


A Show Pony

by Serendipity_Zemblanity



Category: N/A - Fandom
Genre: Animal Play, Animalistic, Defiant Pony, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Master/Pet, Non-Sexual Submission, Pony Play, Pony!play, Rehabilitation, Rescue, Submission, Training, adopting an abused pet, human pony, humans as pets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-19 03:38:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13115178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serendipity_Zemblanity/pseuds/Serendipity_Zemblanity
Summary: Alexander Butler, a respectable pony trainer, goes to the local yearly pony auction in hopes of finding the perfect pony to mold into his next show star. He has a list of what he wants, and plans to find it.All of Alexander's plans go out of the window when he sees a little filly curled up in a corner of the stall. Unable to get her out of his mind, he buys her and takes the pony home. With his 'break them fast and quick, leave the details for later' mindset, Alexander is thrown for a total loop when his pony throws all of his training knowledge in his face, forcing him to take a step back and reevaluate.Follow Alexander and his pony's journey to becoming in 'A Show Pony'.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is a totally different AU, if this doesn't tickle your fancy then don't read it! This is not based off of any book, my apologies if any characters may resemble some from a book or in real life. That is not my intention. Also, please realize that I write these for fun and for myself, so my writing style is very lax. Sorry about that, readers!
> 
> Like my other writings, this will be a short story. My chapters will be relatively short, around one thousand words. I have a very short attention span and do not enjoy writing long stories. I may do some outtakes at the end of the pony's past life and/or some future scenes. This is another 'soft' pony play story. I'm quite a prude when it comes to pony play writing. I don't enjoy immense pain, punishment or extreme modifications.
> 
> In this story, ponies are humans that are trained and/or bred to act as a normal pony would. Some ponies are willing participates, but many are not. It is totally normal, and accepted unless you are doing it illegally. Ponies aren't genetically altered in any way, but they can be surgically altered. For example, cutting the vocal cords. That is the extent my stories will go to (for now) because I do not enjoy big surgeries or plastic body suits.

The big auction of the year is going on. Alexander has gone many years beforehand, but never buying for himself. This year will be the first time he goes looking for a personal prospect. His job has always flourished this time of the year. People without any pony experience would buy unruly or untrained ponies from the auction and want him to fix them.

But not this year. This year he is taking a month off to focus on his new personal horse. Alexander has a loose list in mind of what he wants in a pony. Jumping prospect, young female. Preferably already saddle broke or started over fences. Little did he know that he would buy nearly the total opposite of what he thought he wanted.

Alexander walked into the auction house and then turned a sharp left corner to where the younger females were kept. He knew this place like the back of his hand. Starting down the list of females, he skimmed their profiles. The ponies were kept in small metal pens. Some were loose in the pen, others were tied to a rail. On the front side, there was a small poster that listed the basic information about them. Their name, age, breed, experience level, and other basics. Sometimes quirks would be listed.

No pony seemed to call out to Alexander. He wanted a pony that he could click with and excel with in the show ring. It wasn't until the second row of ponies when he spotted her.

She was in the very corner of her stall, on the ground. The pony was scared and trembling. He glanced over her bio on the front of the pen.

"'Unknown Name'. Roughly eighteen years old. Never touched or trained. Barely halter broke. No saddle training. Old owners died unexpectedly. Escape Artist." Not what he wanted, but she was so innocent and sweet looking. So he kept looking.

After an hour of sitting through various auctions and wandering around the property, he decided to go and find what time the little filly that he had seen earlier would be auctioned off at. Despite his efforts, Alexander could not get her out of his mind. Something about her called him to her. With some effort, he managed to find out what time her auction would be at. Glancing at his phone he saw that he just had enough time to find something to eat and take a seat.

Less than twenty minutes later, Alexander found himself sitting on one of the front rows of the auction room. It was much like a small circus tent. In the middle was a small sand arena, allowing potential buyers to see the ponies before they bid. Around the edges of the room were the seats. At the back of the tent was where the auctioneer stood, rattling off prices. It wasn't long before his filly was up for auction.

"And here we have a little spitfire." The auctioneer's loud laugh sounded through the speakers as she twisted and tried to strike at the handler. "She really wouldn't do much damage, but she puts up a front." His voice changed to business quickly. "Okay, so a short blurb about this one. She doesn't have a name, and has no training. She's been untouched her whole life, left out in a field. Her old owners passed away unexpectedly, which is why we have very little information on her. But we do know her talents include being able to escape out of nearly anything, if you leave her alone long enough. Darn thing has gotten loose twice."

Alexander hardly listened to the auctioneer spouting off about her as he watched her moving. She was trying to make herself as small as possible, but the man in the ring with her was making her keep moving swiftly around the ring.

"500 to the man in black." Alexander's thoughts were broken when he hear prices. He raised his paddle.

"800."

"800! Do I have a 900?"

"900." Some man in the top of the stands said.

"900! Do I have a 1500?" Alexander raised his paddle again.

"1500"

"1500! Do I have a 2000?" The auctioneer paused. "1500 to the man in the front... Going once." No offers were made. "Going twice. Sold! Exit to the left to finalize your purchase." Alexander quickly stood and went out the left door to make his payment.

Once everything had been settled, payments had been made, and Alexander's trailer was moved into place, it was finally time to take his filly home. But first she had to get on the trailer. Luckily, the auction regularly had wild or untrained ponies come through, so they had a special set up for ponies like Alexander's.

To make loading the horses easier, the auction barn would have the new owner's back their trailers up to a chute. Then, from inside the barn the handlers would put the pony into a pen and release them. The handlers would then run the ponies out into the chute. Once they were in the chute, a gate would close behind them and they would be stuck in a very small space, so small they could hardly move. This was so that they handlers could easily put a halter on the ponies without drugging them, or being in the way of danger. Once the halter was on, the gate in front of the pony would open and up into the trailer they would go. It was very little stress for everyone involved.

Having done this before for clients, Alexander knew what to expect and he waited patiently at the back of the trailer, ready to close the back once she got on. A gate was opened and his little filly shot forward. She stopped when she reached the end of the pen, and tried to spin and dart the backwards. The handlers were too quick and closed the gate behind her. Now she was stuck. The handlers climbed up on top of the panels and forced a rope halter onto her head. It would work for now. They dropped the lead rope and opened the gate in front, leading straight to the trailer. She darted out and then shied at the trailer when she saw it, but one firm whack on the rump made her hop right in.

Alexander closed the door firmly behind her and then locked it in place.

"Thanks guys." He shook hands with the handlers, peeked through at his new filly one last time, and the got into the cab of his truck. When the road was clear, he pulled out and began the short drive home.


	2. Chapter 2

It isn't long before Alexander is backing the truck and trailer up to a high-walled round pen. This round pen was made specially for problem horses, such as his pony. With her history of escaping, he figures this would be the safest option. The walls of the round pen are made out of wood, and the panels are vertical, so there aren't little ridges for ponies to try and use as leverage to escape. Over top, the round pen has a covering so that the elements are kept out. The gate is a solid piece of wood, on a swinging hinge. Anyone who tries to enter or leave needs a special key.

Alexander turns the truck off and gets out when he has the trailer positioned as close as he can get to the pen. He opens the gate to the round pen first, so he can take her straight in. Then he goes to the back of his trailer and unlocks all of the latches. He slowly cracks the door, and by luck is the lead rope right where he can grab it without opening the door all of the way. Once he has a firm hold on the rope, he allows the door to swing open fully. Without further prompting, his filly comes right off the trailer.

The young filly is very scared after riding in yet another 'death box'. She has no clue where she is or why. Her life went from lounging in the fields to a place filled with loud, rude people and ponies. So lost in her own thoughts, the pony squeals and kicks out of surprise when she hits the end of the rope. Her head swings around quickly when she hears laughter, and she spots the man who is holding her rope. Vaguely, she remembers seeing him.

"Come on. You're alright." This is the perfect time for a lesson in Alexander's view point. He has never been one to coddle and spend a lot of time on ponies. He still holds strong to an older belief of breaking ponies, which is; Break 'em fast and quick, work on small details later. Have them working hard so they can't buck.

He pulls forward on the rope until she steps forward. He repeats this until she is stepping behind him, straight into the round pen.

Alexander watches her body language closely as he leads her around. She is very unsure of herself and her surroundings, her head whipping around, probably looking for a way to escape. To ensure she doesn't try to bolt, Alexander shuts the gate to the round pen. Now the filly is really nervous. She is anxiously stepping around, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Alexander goes to touch her side and she pulls back quickly, letting out a snort.

Ignoring her adverse reactions for now, he goes back to leading practice. There is about a two foot of loose rope between the clasp connecting the lead rope to the halter and Alexander's hand. This allows him to still have control over her without making the pony feel claustrophobic.

It's a bit awkward leading her because she really does not want to be anywhere close to this strange man. She is obeying what he wants, but at a distance. This work is simple in her mind. He walks, she walks. He stops, she stops. He turns, she turns.

Once Alexander feels as if she has a good idea what is expected of her when leading, he leads her over to the back side of the round pen and pulls her lead rope to a ring that is secured high up on the wall. He wants to make sure she will stand tied, safely, before he tries anything else or leaves her.

The pony is confused now. She doesn't know what he wants. Both handler and pony stand there, looking at each other. Shrugging, Alexander moves in towards her to tie her to the ring. This startles the filly and she immediately pulls backwards with an immense amount of force.

"Hey!" Alexander calls out in alarm. The filly caught him off guard and nearly tore the rope out of his hands. It would be hell catching her.

"Hey, you're alright." His yell has scared the filly and she's still pulling back on the rope, trying to get away from Alexander. The handler pulls lightly on the rope until she releases the pressure and steps forward. He doesn't waste any time tying the rope to the ring now.

The pony has a little bit of slack in the rope, but she really doesn't have much room to move around. When Alexander is sure she won't untie herself, he goes back out of the round pen to get a brush, a bit and bridle combo and a light saddle blanket. His plan was to be sitting on her within a week, and there is a lot to do before then. No better time than the present to start.

He laughs again when he comes back into the round pen. Somehow she has managed to get herself stuck in the lead rope. Something about this mare...

"How did you do that in the time I was gone?" She tried to shy away from him, but since she couldn't, she resorted to kicking.

"Excuse you? No." Alexander was not really surprised at this outburst. Nearly all wild ponies would kick out at some time, usually when they couldn't move. This wasn't the first time he had been kicked at.

He untangled her from the lead rope and then began brushing her down with a soft body brush. Underneath the brush, her muscles were stiff. It always pained his heart to see ponies so scared and unsure of people. After spending the day in that auction house though, he didn't blame her for being so scared of him. It was a wild place.

"Okay, girl. All done. Now for the saddle pad." Leaving her tied, he lightly threw the pad on and off her back. Didn't bother her, so he took the bridle off of his shoulder. This would be interesting. He didn't know how she would react to this. From how she reacted to other things, he expected some pulling back and kicking.

He started off by untying her and looping the lead rope around his left hand. In his right hand, he held the bridle.

"Open." He pressed the bit against her teeth. Now she was backing up and he expected, and he let her back up all the way until her back was against the wall of the round pen. Play a stupid game, get a stupid prize. "Open." He repeated, pushing the bit against her teeth more firmly. When she didn't comply, he squeezed her nose so that she was forced to open her mouth to breath. An old trick that everyone knew. As she gasped for air, he shoved the bit in and pulled the bridle into place.

Alexander stepped back once the bit and bridle was in place. The pony was obviously very unhappy. Her jaw was working hard to try and expel the bit, but the straps behind her head prevented this. It was probably a little uncomfortable, but not terribly so. Alexander never liked the big bulky bits that forced the pony's mouths open. He preferred thin, wire bits with tongue ports. They were much harsher, but they were more comfortable for the pony when not engaged.

After allowing her to walk around in the bit and bridle, he takes it off and ties her back to ring. She only flinches a little bit when he pats her on the shoulder.

"See you tomorrow, girl." And with that Alexander leaves her for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Today is the first true day of training. On today's agenda, Alexander has several things. First, to work on accepting the bit and yielding to it. To do this, he plans on using long reins. Second, groundwork. The basics, and lunging. He really wants to see her gaits, but is not ready to turn her loose. And if there is time at the end, he would like to start training her to come to a whistle. It makes his job much easier once she is released into the large pastures.

He stops by his tack room first, to get all of the training tack for his pony. When she is fully trained he will order custom tack. Luckily he trains enough ponies to have some extra laying around.

Bit and bridle, check. Two lunging rope, yes. And finally - a dressage whip. This is all he will need for today. No saddle or saddle pad, he will resume that in the next couple days. And as a treat, he grabs a sweet on the way out of the tack room.

"Hey pony." Alexander greets her, opening the gate and entering the round pen.

"You really need a name.." He says, thinking out loud. She just watches him approach, not inputting any opinion on the matter.

"Nora?" He drops the tack on the ground and walks right up to her.

"No. That doesn't fit you." She shies away, tensing as he runs his hands down her sides.

"You're alright. Relax. Emma?" He glances down her body.

"No. Doesn't fit you either." The handler absentmindedly scratches the pony's back with his nails, up and down.

"Isabella?" He stops his hands and she lets out a disappointed snort. A small smile forms on his lips. Finally, some type of positive feed back. He resumes running his nails lightly up and down her back, watching as her eyes close slightly and she leans back into it.

"Good girl. See? Not all touch is bad." Alexander keeps scratching her back, pondering names.

"Ah!" The filly startles, her eyes flying open and moving away from him. "How about Finley?" That is perfect for her.

"Finley!" He calls softly, and she turns her head towards him. Yes, perfect for her.

It didn't take as long to get the bridle on today. He gave her two chances to open her mouth, and on the second attempt she obeyed.

The lead lines were in place, snapped onto the bit. Alexander lightly pulled the left rein backwards until her head tilted to the left. The same was done for the right side, and it wasn't long before she was turning at the proper commands. There was no doubt that his pony was smart. Very smart.

"Good girl, Finley!" Alexander said, after she walked forward when he clicked with his tongue. She had nice, natural head posture so a training posture collar wouldn't be necessary.

"Woah." He pulls back lightly, mindful that the sides of the mouth are very sensitive and she is very green. Untrained. It takes her a moment of thinking, but she stops.

"Good girl! Walk on." He clicks and she walks forward again. They practice turning, stopping and walking for nearly an hour. It's obvious that Finley is becoming very bored. She is blatantly ignoring his commands, and has even let out a couple kicks when he lightly tapped her ass with the whip.

"Aye! Slow!" A loud crash rang through the air, right outside of the round pen where Finley and Alexander were. Surprised, Finley took off. It wasn't long before she stopped because of the pain of the bit.

"Oh dear girl, what have you done?" Alexander dropped the reins and walked up to her front. Because of her bolting forward, the thin bit had cut through the skin at the edge of her mouth. Gently, he wiped away the blood and removed the bit. The pony ducked her head, probably trying to show that she was sorry.

To reassure her, Alexander rubbed between her shoulders - right where she liked it. He was glad that she had enough sense to stop, instead of push through the pain and keep going.

"Okay, come on." Alexander had clipped one of the long reins to the halter loop under her chin. They were done with long reining today. He wanted to work on lunging now.

Finley had plenty of room to run now. This long line was twenty five feet long. Alexander walked over to where the dressage whip lay, and picked it up.

"Okay, walk on." The filly was obviously confused, and cocked her head to the side at him. What did he want? She knew what walk on meant but did not know where he wanted her to walk.

"Walk on." He repeated, and waved the whip. That was enough for Finley, and she began to walk. When she hit the end of the rope, she would turn slightly until she was walking a circle around him.

"Yes, that's right. Good girl. Keep going." She assumed what she was doing was what he wanted according to his praises so she kept walking the circle. Soon he began clicking more and waving the whip. Confused, she stopped. That was not what he wanted! The whip landed on her ass cheek and she squealed, kicking out.

"Trot!" His voice barked out.

Fine. She could go faster. Annoyed, Finley began to race around the small circle at a gallop until she was a hot, panting mess. The man was just standing there, looking annoyed with her.

"No need to throw a tantrum. I want you to trot." That was what he wanted, wasn't it? For her to run? Hesitantly, she began to walk towards him. Wrong move. He flicked the whip again, this time landing on her thigh. Finley took off again.

"Woah!" The man shouted, pulling her head inwards. Well now Finley didn't want to stop. She kept powering forward, head bent in towards Alexander.

"I said woah." The handler said calmly, holding the whip out in front of her. When she ran into it, she slid to a stop.

"Are you done now?" Alexander asked the pony, huffing. She was breathing heavily now, and starting to sweat. It took her a minute but she ducked her head and looked away.

"Now, trot." Alexander lifted his left arm, the one that was holding the rope, and pointed that direction. He held the whip up in his right hand, as a warning. Snorting unhappily, Finley reluctantly began to trot in the direction he asked. She wasn't dumb, and knew what exactly what he wanted. It wasn't like he was asking her to perform rocket science, but that didn't mean anything. She just didn't want to listen, but galloping on tight circle with your head turned was hard work.

After about five minutes of just trotting, Alexander allowed her to come in.

"A couple things, Finley. First. You don't bolt with me or kick out at me. Second, you don't blatantly ignore me. You're a smart pony, you know what I want." The pony looked ashamed and guilty. She really didn't want this man to be mad at her. He was kind to her, and didn't want him to become mean and whip her. To try and make it up, she decided that she would listen to him no matter what.


	4. Chapter 4

Finley's silent promise to herself went out the window when Alexander walked into the round pen carrying what she had seen on pony's backs at that terrible sale house. So far, everything he had brought into this pen had been used on her one way or another.

He strode over to her, smiling. Yesterday after she had calmed down, he was able to brush her down fully and give her a sponge brush without her fighting him or tensing. It had been amazing to see her actually moving out. He loved the way her muscles rippled when she was powering forward. It would greatly benefit her in the show ring, but the only reason he had seen that was because she was throwing a tantrum.. Hopefully he could channel that energy into a more positive movement.

Today Alexander wanted to saddle her. He was so much farther than he originally expected to be. Finley was really trying for him, and that's what made everything go so smoothly. In return, he was kind and not so harsh when she threw a tantrum. Besides, he was never one for beating a pony senseless. Even if they did misbehave. Now, making them run was another story. If you were gonna misbehave under Alexander's watch, you were gonna run and misbehave.

"Hey pretty girl." He sets the saddle on the ground, which she eyes warily. "Come on." Alexander unties her from the ring on the side of the round pen, and tugs lightly. She follows without complaint to the middle of the pen, where a lunge line is on the ground. Before he attempts to strap a saddle onto Finley, he wants to get some wiggles and energy out of her. Just a few short days ago, she was wild.

The long lunge line is clipped onto the loop on her halter, below her chin and Alexander allows her all of the rope to move. It doesn't take her long to begin to wander away when the handler doesn't make any move to command her to do something. When she gets far enough away, Alexander whistles loudly and pulls on the line. Finley spins around, head high in the air. What does he want?

He continues pulling on the rope until she is only a couple feet away from him.

"Good girl!" He praises, and then goes back to looking at his phone. Finley stands there, confused for a couple minutes before wandering back out. Again, when she gets far enough out he whistles and begins pulling lightly. She looks back at him and then follows the pull of the lead until she is only a couple feet away.

"Good girl!" He repeats, and looks down at his phone. Now she is really confused and stays in her position. If he keeps calling her back, he must want her to stay here. But standing there is boring, so she walks off again. Finley is just about to lay down in the warm sand when another whistle rings out. More pulling on her lead rope. She goes up to him. Same old, same old.

"You're such a good girl, Finley." He rubs her head for a second.

"Okay, time to pick up the pace." The same as yesterday, he holds the lead rope in his left hand and points. In his right hand, he holds a whip. Last time he looked that, it meant running for Finley. So she's not really chomping at the bit to obey. To be on the safe side, she backs up away from him. No thanks.

"Ah, ah, ah. No." Quickly, he makes a harsh correcting sound and flicks the whip.

"Walk." Okay, she can walk. Hesitantly, Finley walks in a slow circle around Alexander. At least he has stopped waving the whip at her. That thing hurt.

A soft clucking breaks her train of thought, and again he is waving that stupid whip. What more could he possibly want.

"Trot." Taking the lazy way out, she just walks faster.

That was not! what he wanted apparently, because he laid into her ass.

"Trot!" He barked, and the whip was laid on her rear again. She knew what he wanted, and now she was just being lazy. Squealing and shaking her head, Finley picks up a working trot. Just the simple, jog almost. None of that high kneed prancing. That was saved for the halter ponies. When jumping, that fancy stuff would get you nowhere. It made it very hard to transition and pop over jumps elegantly.

Several circles later, the filly begins to relax and stretch out slightly.

"See? You can do it without throwing a tantrum. Woah." She slides to a halt and turns into Alexander. Fast learner.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

Alexander allowed both him and Finley a short break before they moved onto the saddle breaking. She was allowed to nibble on some apples and get a couple sips of water. Since she had torn her mouth yesterday, he was only going to use a hackamore until it healed. The tearing wasn't terrible, so eventually she could use a bit again.

But right now, no bridle was needed. For saddle breaking, Alexander preferred to have the ponies loose. When they were loose they could do anything to try and get the saddle off, with no restraints. It taught them that no matter what they do, that saddle is not coming off. Alexander believed the same when it came to a pony's first ride. Let them have a loose rein, or no rein at all. Allow them to go crazy and attempt to unseat you. When they realize they can't, they will eventually give up.

All of this was in Finley's near future, but first he had to get the saddle on. The saddle pad went on first without any problems. When the saddle came out, Finley was obviously nervous. He paused for a moment, reassuring her and then threw it on. Expertly and quickly, Alexander fastened all of the straps and then moved back. The saddle was black synthetic. Lightweight, with no stirrups. It had two thick straps that went over her shoulders and buckled in the middle, since it was a training saddle. There were other, smaller straps for stability. This saddle was purely for very short rides, or saddle training such as this. It was not made for comfortable rides like some of his other saddles.

Finley stood very still. She did not like whatever was on her back. It was tight on her too. Did not like.

"Easy. Come on, walk." He gently pulls forward on her halter, trying to get her to walk some with the saddle on. Her eyes are very expressive, and he can plainly see how much she dislikes this. Honestly, Alexander doesn't blame her. The training saddles don't look or feel comfortable, but he doesn't want to risk his nice saddles yet.

Finley hesitantly steps forward, following Alexander. She really does not want to be bad, but this saddle is uncomfortable as hell and she wants it off. The thin pad underneath it is doing nothing for comfort.

"Trot." Alexander has the whip again and is pointing to the right. The beginning of her jog looks good, but then she begins to buck and kick. She takes a stride or two of a canter and then a string of bucks and kicks. Alexander allows her to keep going until she is breathing heavily and slowing into a nice jog.

"Woah." Finley stops and turns in. But she isn't done. When he tries to approach her, she takes off, squealing and kicking. Now Alexander is making her run. Whenever her pace slows, he is after her with the whip. The filly does countless laps around the edge of the round pen at a gallop.

"Woah." Alexander asks again. This time she stops and stays stopped when he walks towards her. Now she is a sweaty, panting mess. All of this tantrum throwing really takes it out of her.

"Okay, think you can walk normally?" He clips a lead rope onto her halter and walks her around. She still isn't happy with the saddle, but is no longer willing to run. After taking the saddle off, Alexander takes a cool, damp sponge over her sweaty body.

"Good girl. Have fun." Alexander says, sliding the halter off of her face. For the first time since Alexander bought her, Finley has no tack on her body. Not even a halter. The handler leaves the pony like that until the next training session, when it comes time to teach her a lesson in catching. He is sure there will be running involved.


	5. Chapter 5

"How's that little filly of yours coming along?" Alexander spun around to see his friend, Jacob at the doorway.

"She's coming along very nicely. Hoping to be on her by Monday, but she has the weekend off. I have to go and help a client over the weekend."

"Sounds great, I hope to see you out in the arena soon with her." Alexander nodded and then grabbed the last of the tack he needed. The whip, a new halter and lead rope, a hackamore, two lunge lines and then the training saddle. That would be all he needed for today.

He walked briskly to the round pen. It was early morning, before many people came out to the barn to work their ponies. He was usually the first ones to be out working, along with Jacob. The two men had bonded over many cold morning spent together exercising or training ponies.

"Finley!" He called out to her and whistled as he came in the gate, making sure it locked behind him. His pony was laying down against one of the walls, but awake and alert. Alexander set all of the tack down on the ground, except the halter and lead and whistled again. Finley made no move to get up, so he walked towards her.

Quickly she scrambled to her feet. She had just regained as much freedom as she was probably going to get, and wasn't about to lose it. Alexander paused and she stopped. As soon as Alexander took a step towards the filly, she briskly trotted off with her head high up in the air. She was obviously going to play hard to catch, but that's alright. It's her first time out of the halter.

"Come on, canter." Alexander swings the end of the lead rope out at her, making her squeal and take off. The pony isn't dumb, and slows back down when she gets further from the man. She does not want to waste her energy right away and be caught so quickly.

After working with ponies for many years, Alexander knew what she was doing. The smart ones would know to conserve their energy if they had plans of trying to escape or play keep away for a long period of time. It was a good tactic, but he knew how to counter react it. All you had to do is be right behind them at all times, which required a little running.

The handler takes what looks like a short break, but really just grabs the whip and sticks it in his boot.

"Now, Finley. You can let me halter you or you can run. Your choice." He advances towards her again and pauses. The wheels are turning in her head as she thinks about her options. When he takes another step, she takes off again.

"Fine. You made this decision." Alexander is side stepping a circle in the middle of the round pen, and every time she goes to slow down, he takes a couple steps at her with the whip in hand. This keeps her going at a gallop, with no chance to slow down unless she wants to feel the whip.

Roughly five minutes later, Finley is nearly out of breath and her chest is heaving. She turns in and tries to suck up to Alexander by walking in towards him, like he has wanted in the past.

"No! I did not ask you to come in. You are not done running." He expertly flicks the whip and it lands on her ass. An unhappy squeal erupts from the filly. She spins on her heel and takes off the other way. Alexander keeps Finley running at the same pace for two more minutes before stepping back.

"Woah." Immediately she slides to a stop turns in. If Alexander jumping didn't work out, he might just send her to a reining trainer.. Hm.

"Come here." Finley hesitated walks in towards the man. She really does not want him to touch her with the whip that he is still holding, but she knows if she runs away again it will be more running.

"Good girl." Alexander runs his hands down her legs first, making sure there isn't any excessive heat. Halter still in hand, he straightens back up and throws the lead rope over her shoulder.

Now he needs to fit the halter to her face. He was gifted this halter many years ago by one of his first clients, and it was still in amazing condition. He had been saving it for his first pony and now Finley had the honor of wearing it. The straps are soft, black leather and the hardware is pristine silver. There were two lead ropes that go with it, but he has the lesser one attached. The other lead rope has two foot of chain and then black leather. Alexander wants to save it for when they are showing.

It isn't long before all of the straps are properly fit. Not tight, but sung. In this time, Finley's breathing has significantly slowed.

"We will take the saddle work easily, don't worry." Alexander reassures, seeing as Finley's eyes get big when they walk towards the saddle on the ground. He's sure she is already very tired. It's hard to gallop circles nonstop.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

Ten minutes later, Finley has been tacked up without a problem. Alexander didn't even need to hold her lead rope. Her back is tense and she is obviously uncomfortable with the saddle on her back, but it will have to do for now.

Today he has the long lines again, which are just two lunge ropes clipped to her hackamore. Since she tore the edges of her mouth, he is using a hackamore. The hackamore has a buckle at the back of her head, which keeps it on. There is a thin strap going from the back to the front of her head, and it stops right below the eyes a bit, on the firmest part of the pony's nose. From there, the leather splits to go under the eyes and on both cheeks there is a silver metal ring. From those rings, a strap of leather goes around to the back of the head - the part of the leather with the buckle. Also from that ring, there are several straps of leather to stabilize a short metal hackamore. The reins clip onto the metal hackamore piece. So when the reins are pulled on, pressure is put on the top of the bridge of the pony's nose.

"Walk on." Alexander has already positioned himself several feet behind Finley, long reins and whip in hand.

Directions aren't hard to learn in a hackamore, but it is slightly different from riding in a bit. Finley is a smart pony, so she catches on without any issues. They work on stopping, and turning. No trotting. Just walking around the round pen. This time, there isn't any bolting or kicking.

"Whoa. Good girl!" He praises, and leads her over to the tie ring. Alexander is able to un-tack her and sponge the pony off with a damp sponge without her flinching or tensing. When he is all done, he takes the halter off and lets her roam freely in the round pen.

"See you Monday." Alexander takes one more look at his filly before closing and locking the gate. It would be hard for him to go two days without seeing his sassy pony.


	6. Chapter 6

After what felt like the longest weekend in his life, Alexander was finally back on the barn's property where his pony was. Jacob had sent him a couple pictures when he went to feed her, but other than that he knew nothing of what she had been doing.

Luckily when he pulled into the barn's parking lot, there weren't many cars. There would most likely be an arena open for him to take Finley out for the first time. He had been thinking about what he would do today all weekend. So far his plans were to saddle her with one of his nice saddles and take her into an arena. From there he would work on her accepting weight in the saddle and do some lunging over poles.

It wasn't much later before he was finally opening the gate to the round pen. Finley was laying over against the wall, much like he had seen her Friday morning. She made no effort to get up or recognize him, which pained Alexander if he was being honest.

"Finley." He called out, dropping the tack by the gate. She still did not make an attempt to stand.

Bending down, he picked up her leather halter and began walking towards his pony. Finally she got up, but wasn't facing Alexander.

"Finley, we aren't going to have a repeat of last time, are we?" She glanced at him and then took off trotting, head up high in defiance.

Sighing, Alexander got the whip and returned to the middle of the round pen. This was not how he was envisioning today.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

Many laps later, Finley was standing pressed against the round pen wall, breathing heavily. Even Alexander was breathing heavily after trying to keep Finley going. Today she was being particularly terrible and Alexander was getting more upset by the minute. They had been doing so good before the weekend. It was two steps forward, five steps back.

It was unprofessional and unlike him to get angry with ponies, but Finley was throwing him for a loop. This was the reason the men at the auction house put a halter and lead on the wild ones before setting them off onto the trailer. It's nearly impossible to catch a pony that does not want to be caught when they are loose in a large enclosure such as this pen.

"Dammit mare, you have to work with me!" Alexander yelled, extremely frustrated. With that, he left the round pen to grab some breakfast from the stable's office. Nearly thirty minutes had passed since he entered that round pen, and frankly he needed a break before he did something he regretted.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

Alexander needed to find a different route to try and catch this filly. She could run and run until the collapsed, and that wasn't a good way to catch her. The only 'barrier' he could think of to make the round pen smaller would be setting up jump standards as high as they could go, to make sort of a fence. Deciding on that, he stood up from the chair and began collecting the items he would need.

First he set up the actual standards themselves. Then he brought in the poles and set them up on the standards. They were thin PVC so that if a pony knocked them, it wouldn't hurt as badly. And the poles were light, so it was easier to move them from arena to stood, watched him intently, not moving from her spot against the wall.

"Okay pony." The round pen was originally roughly seventy five feet in diameter, and now it was drastically cut in half by the standards. Not as much room for Finley to run away, and there were some corners that Alexander could pin her in if it came down to it.

"Trot." Finley started off, and surprisingly there weren't many head tosses.

"Woah." Alexander called out, and again to his surprise she stopped and turned in. That had been the first time that Finley had faced him today. He slowly walked up to her, and she stood there calmly.

"God, Finley. You pissed me off so badly. What got into you this morning?" He ran his fingers through her hair, lightly scratching her head.

He haltered her and then walked her over to the gate. Thinking back, yelling at her probably was not a good idea and most likely that's what scared her. Her body language was totally different now, much like the pony he first saw trembling in the auction house. The saddle and other tack lay forgotten as he opened the gate to the round pen and lead her out.

Finley's head was up high again and her breathing was picking up. It had been who knows how long since she was out in the sun, since the round pen had a top on it. Her head was swinging quickly, taking in all of her surroundings quickly. She was acting very anxious. Something that Alexander didn't see much off, and as a result she was stepping very close to him. She had caught his boot a couple times.

"Okay Finley, you need to back up some. You're fine." He pulled the lead rope back, and she took two steps back. When he was satisfied with her position, he kept walking. Because of the copious amount of running she had done this morning and previous days, she was sweaty and her hair was nasty. She needed a bath, and she was going to get one.

As Alexander got closer to the barn, the further back Finley drifted and slowed down until she was fully stopped, several feet in front of the barn. This place looked awfully like where she had been just a few short days ago. Alexander turned and pulled a bit more on the rope.

"Come on girlie, it's really alright." It was evident in her eyes that she was worried about stepping into the barn. Now she wasn't being a brat, she was truly apprehensive. But there must have been some level of trust in Alexander because she stepped forward.

"Good girl. Follow."

He chose the training barn because it was relatively empty most of the time, and the wash stalls weren't in the back of the barn. They passed several stalls, some with ponies, others without. Again Finley was on his heels, sticking very close to him. Alexander didn't correct her because she was already a bundle of nerves and they were at the wash stall.

Alexander walked her into the wash stall, and then turned her around so she faced the barn aisle. He grabbed one of the cross ties with panic snaps and clipped it to one side of her halter, and then moved to the other side of his pony and did the same. Since they were panic snaps and she could undo herself if she pulled hard enough, he tied the rope to a ring on the left side of the wall. If it was hard to catch her in a round pen, it would be terrible to catch on five hundred acres.

"Stand." Finley was nervously stepping in the cross ties, unsure of what to do.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the sudden sound of gushing water behind her, but Alexander's hand on her back calmed her. He started at her feet hosing her down and moved up. He put his hand under her chin and tilted up, ignoring her fighting him. When she relaxed and allowed him to hold her chin up, he got her hair wet, starting at the top of her head. Finley tried to wiggle her head out of his grasp and escape the stream of water, but Alexander held her still. She didn't realize it, but he was holding her chin to keep water from getting in her eyes.

Letting her chin go, he turned the water off and grabbed a sponge. Alexander poured a nice amount of soap onto it and started to scrub, working his way up from his feet. When she was sudsy from toes to neck, he dropped the sponge and got the shampoo. The pony nearly melted underneath his hands as he massaged her scalp. For her first bath, it was going great. A complete turn around from this morning.

Finley looked almost hurt when he stopped shampooing her hair.

"Sorry girl, gotta get the tangles out now." Alexander got a large amount of conditioner in his hands and then began working it in.

He made a mental note to put more conditioner in this wash stall later, they were going to need it once he was done. The easy part was done, now he had to detangle it with a comb. Trying to be as gentle as he could, Alexander started at the bottom of her hair and worked up. Nearly ten minutes later, all of the tangles were out and it lay nicely against her back.

"Easy." The pony jumped slightly when the stream of water hit the back of her legs unexpectedly.

It didn't take long for Alexander to finish hosing her down. Finley looked much better when she was cleaner and her hair was clean and straight. To prevent it from tangling so badly again, he braided it loosely and secured it with a rubber band.

"You're such a good girl when you try, Finley. Come on let's go back." And with that, Alexander took her back to the round pen and moved all of the jump standards to the middle so she had the whole round pen open to her.


	7. Chapter 7

Since yesterday's fiasco of trying to catch Finley was a lot of stress for both pony and handler, Alexander decided to leave her tied to the ring for the night. Eventually he could leave her loose, but not today. He had loose plans for today, and then a backup plan if his initial plan went to pieces as they usually did.

Following his normal routine, Alexander went to his tack room and got everything he would need for the day's training session. Except for, today, instead of using a cheap training saddle on Finley, he grabbed one of his nicer saddles. It was black leather to match her bridle and comfortable for both pony and rider. Even though it wasn't his best saddle, it was a big improvement the training saddle.

Unlike the past two times Alexander had entered the round pen, Finley was standing. Alert, and looking around. Not tangled, thankfully. He was a little nervous leaving her like that all night because he had put more slack in the rope than normal so she could comfortably lay down. In doing that, Finley had a higher chance of getting herself accidentally tangled up in the ropes.

Alexander did not waste any time today. He carried the tack all the way over to her before setting it down. He would tack her up in the round pen and immediately take her out to one of the arenas that he had booked specially for today.

"Good girl Finley." He praised. There was no flinching as he put the saddle pad on and lifted the saddle onto her back. The look in her eyes was surprised when the saddle wasn't as uncomfortable on her back.

"Not all saddles are bad. From now on it will be much more comfortable for you." Alexander finished up strapping the saddle to her. Instead of using the hackamore, he left the halter on. If he did any long lining, he would just attach the ropes to her halter.

When Alexander was satisfied with the saddle placement and the straps, he lead her over to the gate and out. Finley stepped daintily in the fresh morning dew. It was early morning and still very cool out. No ponies were in view, not even one of Jacob's.

"Stand." Alexander commanded, pulling back the lead rope slightly.

Finley stopped and stood as he opened the gate to the arena. The arena was full of sand with several small jumps set up. The fencing was pristine white, tall enough that a normal pony couldn't easily jump over it.

The pony followed Alexander into the sand arena. Her feet did not sink much because of how thin the layer of sand was. It was deep enough to cushion ankles after jumps, but not too deep. If the sand was too deep, you risked an ankle injury from having to pull themselves out. The math behind it was long, and Alexander left it to the barn owner's to figure out.

Alexander walked Finley around the arena, giving her a chance to look at everything. She wasn't interested in the arena though, her eyes were looking at everything outside of the arena.

"Finley." Her attention snapped directly to Alexander.

"There you are. Pay attention." He lead her over to one of the jumps. It was about two foot high and had flowers underneath it. After allowing her to check it out, he showed her some of the other jumps. Finley didn't seem particular interested or scared by them so he moved on.

The shorter lead rope was changed out for a long lunge line. Alexander picked up a long whip, specially for lunging. Finley eyed it suspiciously but didn't freak out. Thank god.

"Walk on." She started out on a large circle around Alexander.

The pair was in a far corner of the arena where the pony couldn't see much, other than just trees and a little bit of the barns. Finley wanted to keep looking at everything, but there was nothing interesting so she focused on the circles she was making. When he lightly clicked with his tongue, she flawlessly moved into a trot.

Finley stayed on the exact same path every rotation, wearing a perfect circle into the sand. For such a green pony, Alexander was thoroughly impressed.

"Woah." He stepped back, and she turned in to him.

"Good girl, Finley! You're such a good girl." He praised the pony immensely for her effort. When they got out in the arena, Alexander wasn't sure how this was going to go. She was spacey and wouldn't pay attention. Now she was doing perfect circles.

He led her over to a different part of the arena and resumed circles the other way. After several trotting circles, he clicked with his tongue and raised the arm with the whip. Finley took a couple fast trotting strides, but moved into a canter when Alexander clicked once more. The circles looked good, they weren't as perfect as her trotting circles, but still good.

When she slowed her gait, Alexander encouraged her to speed up using his voice and whip. Finley did not like that and began to kick inwards at him. That earned her a whack on the rump with the whip. She squealed, and sped up. Finley did a couple high speed circles which was her version of a mini tantrum.

"Woah." Alexander called out, stepping back and pulling lightly on the lunge line. Finley skidded stopped and spun in. Her eyes still showed signs of being slightly pissed off, but she didn't try to nip at him when he walked up to her.

Alexander rubbed her a second and then adjusted the straps slightly. With her kicking and slightly rocky gait, the saddle had become loose.

"Okay, come on." Alexander started her off doing a slow trotting circle, clockwise. He slowly walked himself over to one of the jumps until her path around him around put her through the middle of the jump. She was lined up perfectly, but when Finley saw the jump her head went up high and she skittered off to the side. Held fast by Alexander's grip on the rope, she couldn't move all the way to the side or jump it correctly so she stopped.

"Ah. Ah. Ah." Alexander made a harsh correcting sound and backed her up.

"Try again." He lined her up with the jump again and sent her off on the circle at a brisk trot.

This time she was ready and popped over the jump without any troubles. A sassy head toss was thrown in after the jump, but that was no issue for right now.

Alexander kept her going over jumps until she was sweating, probably more so from the sun than the work load. She had jumped nice for a green pony in a new saddle. Sometimes she would brush the jump by accident, but her jumps were consistent. Finley showed promise for the show ring, and possibly going higher.

There was only one more thing that Alexander wanted to do today and that was work on Finley accepting weight in the saddle. All that entailed was leaning into the saddle, usually just an arm or the torso. He lead her over to the mounting block and climbed on it. It was short, but he towered over her majorly now. This made her nervous because she wouldn't stand still.

"Finley. Stand." She would stand for a moment, but as soon as Alexander would make any movement, she would shy to the side.

Short of pinning her against a fence, there wasn't much Alexander could do other than work with her on not moving when he stood above her. Instead of taking the cheap way and forcing her to stand still with learned helplessness, Alexander decided to slowly work on it with her. He started on the first step, getting her comfortable with him fiddling around with the saddle at the height. When she was okay with that, he stepped up to the top. Finley's whole body tensed and she moved to the side.

"Shh. You're alright." He pulled on her lead rope towards him until she took a step closer.

"Good!" The pressure was released as soon as she stepped over. Deciding that this was about all that they would be able to do today, he started untack her while still on the mounting block.

Alexander carried the saddle and whip in his left hand and led Finley with his right. It wasn't long before her head was jacked up to the sky and she was looking around at her surroundings. It was as if her head was on a swivel, trying to take it all in at once.

Today had been a great training session, probably the best they'd ever had. Alexander couldn't wait to see what the future held for this filly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : The next chapter is short, not even a thousand words. It's more a filler, but it's a needed filler.


	8. Chapter 8

The plan for today was simple. Get on Finley. Let her run and buck as she pleased, but stay on her. He would do this in the round pen so she was confined.

Finley had been tied to the ring in the wall yesterday, same as the day before. She was laying down when Alexander came into the round pen, but got up when he closed the door and came towards her.

Alexander didn't have many things in his hands. A saddle pad, saddle, and mounting block. That was all he needed. He wasn't even going to lunge his pony today. He just was going to get on and get it over with. When he started ponies quickly like this, he allowed them a loose rein to buck as they pleased. He would keep the halter and lead rope on Finley, but only hold the end of the rope. That allowed him to have some sort of control if things went terrible.

Brushing her lightly off, he began to saddle her. She stood still, calmly. This was a regular routine for her and it was no longer a scary experience.

"You're learning so fast, Finley." Alexander said as he lead her to the mounting block. There was anxiety present in her eyes when he stepped up to the top step.

"Easy." He realised he probably should have gotten her used to the stirrups, but it was too late now. Before today, there hadn't been any stirrups on his saddles. But now there were, they were just up on the saddle. Slowly he let them down, and allowed them to bump Finley on the sides. She jumped at the feeling and tried to look at what they were.

"It's alright. They are just stirrups." He pulled her back over to the mounting block and checked all of the straps. They were all in place. All he needed to do was lift himself on. Lightly, he pulled her head to the left, away from him. Not allowing her to watch him would buy him a couple seconds to get his left foot into the stirrup.

In one graceful motion, Alexander placed his right foot in the stirrup, swung his left leg over and put it in the stirrup.

Finley's head was up high as it usually was when she was scared or stressed. She was panicking slightly and moving awkwardly to the side.

"Easy. You're alright. Woah." Alexander pulled lightly on the lead rope until she stopped. It could be very easy to be unseated by a pony if you weren't paying attention. Luckily for Alexander, this wasn't his first rodeo and he knew what he was doing.

He clicked with his tongue and nudged her sides with his heels. Finley moved forward uneasily under his weight.

"Good, Finley." So far there hadn't been any bolting or trying to unseat him, so he was pleased.

After a lap or two at a slow walk, Alexander nudged her again with his heels. Finley's head was up in the air again and she began to back up very quickly.

"Ah. Ah. No." He clicked with his tongue and asked more firmly.

This time she moved into a trot. Effortlessly, Alexander began to post, trying to ride her jarring trot as best he could. Finley's trot had to be one of the worst trots he had ever ridden.

Alexander sat back in the saddle and instinctively, as to not loose her balance, Finley stopped.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

They did many laps around the round pen, at a walk and trot. And so far, there wasn't a single out f control bolt or sassy buck. Though Alexander, at this point, wasn't even sure if she was strong enough to. By the end of the session, Finley was still behaving perfectly.

Alexander sat back, not as drastically as the first time and Finley stopped. Like he had seen when he first bought her, she was incredibly smart and caught onto concepts quickly. If only she would use those smarts more often and make wiser decisions.

Gathering the lead rope tighter, he turned her head to the left and took his feet out of the stirrups. She shifted slightly under him, trying to relieve the pressure by turning.

"No. Stand." He loosened the rope a bit and then dismounted.

He pat her shoulder and then walked her over to the gate of the round pen. She followed him eagerly, ready to go outside. Finley seemingly loved to be outside of the round pen.

Alexander lead her, saddle and all to the same training barn they had been in the other day. This time she didn't hesitate as they entered the barn and passed the couple ponies that were in stalls. He lead her down to the wash stall, into it, turned her around and clipped the cross ties to her halter.

From there he took the saddle off and began to hose her down. She jumped slightly at the water, but nothing major. Her eyes were spacey and she seemed to be unnaturally quiet.

He continued to wash her off, making sure to clean and braid her hair back. Since it was still pretty early in the morning and cool out, Alexander dried her off with a towel the best he could so she wouldn't get chilly.

"C'mon Finley. Let's go back."


	9. Chapter 9

Alexander had been notified last night that he was needed urgently over at a barn, nearly two states away. That required him to leave this afternoon. He wouldn't be back until late into the day after.

Oh well, Finley could use a short break. Hopefully she did not go completely wild like the last time he had left her... He would leave her tied up this time. If everything went according to plan, he would have her in her own stall soon. The barn would have an open stall with a private paddock opening soon and Alexander had already booked it. The pony currently occupying the stall was leaving tomorrow, so Alexander would move Finley the day he got back to the barn.

Today, Alexander didn't bother with closing the round pen's gate behind him. He was going to quickly tack up Finley and then take her into one of the arenas. Just do some light work and then some bonding time for the both of them before he left.

"Hey cutie." He made it halfway across the round pen before Finley got up. It was major improvement. When a pony was laying down, they are very vulnerable.

Alexander took a soft body brush over her back, cleaning off the saddle area. The saddle was smoothly hoisted onto her back and strapped into place. He had picked his nicest saddle for today, the most expensive and comfortable one for Finley. The next step up from this one would be a custom saddle made especially for his pony. In due time, of course.

"Stand." Alexander slid her halter off and fit the hackamore in place, securing the buckle at the back. Perfect.

He led her out of the round pen and went directly over to the same arena that they had been in, only a couple days before. Today there was Jacob out riding, and coming towards Alexander and Finley. Ignoring him, Alexander lead Finley into the arena and closed the gate behind them just as Jacob trotted up on one of his ponies in training.

"You seem to be in a rush." Jacob stated, leaning forward towards Finley.

"No. Just trying to keep on with our training." He retorted, pulling Finley back. Alexander did not need her having a breakdown or tantrum right now when she was being so good.

"Alright. I'll let you guys be, filly seems to be nervous." Jacob was right. Finley was stepping around nervously and trying to hide behind Alexander's form.

Jacob rode off, leaving Alexander alone with his pony.

"Easy. Calm down, Finley. You remember him?" He let her stand there for a moment as he scratched underneath her bridle.

His pony seemed to have a lot of anxiety bundled up in her, and stressful moments like these would sort of "pop" her false calm. It hurt him to see her so anxious around other people and ponies, but also made him curious. Was that a product of a past owner? Her biography at the auction house said that she was untouched...

Finley let out a deep breath, relaxing. Alexander gave her one more pat and then lead her over to the mounting block. Surprisingly, she didn't move.

Usually by second ride was when green ponies would begin to move away from the block, trying to avoid him from getting on. Alexander checked all of the straps on the saddle before turning her head away from him, to the right. This ride he had actual reins attached to her hackamore. He put his left foot in the stirrup and quickly swung into the saddle.

Finley took Alexander by surprise when she shot off to the side. After how well yesterday went, he really wasn't expecting anything right off the bat.

"Woah." He sat back and pulled back on the reins. Finley's sideways dash faltered as she regained balance, but she kept going until she ran Alexander's leg into the fence. Spooking herself at the noise it made, she darted forward.

"Woah, mare!" Alexander pulled back on the reins and sat back again. Immediately Finley dead stopped.

What was up with this sudden change in behaviour? Alexander lightly nudged her in the sides, signalling for her to go forward. Finley took off, kicking out. Alexander let her run. They got about halfway around the edge of the arena before Finley decided to have another break check and slid to a stop. She spun the other way and began to hop around.

It was obvious that she was trying to unseat him, and she was doing everything in her power to do so. This was the storm he was expected from her. Yesterday had been the calm. Alexander let it run it's course, watching her body language closely. There were only a couple times where she nearly got him off balance.

About twenty minutes later, Finley began to slow down into a trot. Now Alexander picked up the reins. He pulled the left rein backwards. She knew what to do but was not about to listen. Her neck was braced against his pulling, so much so that she was thrown majorly off balance when he suddenly switched reins to go the other way.

"Woah." He sat back and Finley stopped.

"You gonna listen now? You've been a brat, now it's time to be a good girl." He pulled to the left again, and this time she listened. The rest of their ride went relatively without issue. There were a couple moments where Finley ignored him, but for the most part it was a good end.

In the middle of the arena, there were three jumps set up in a line. It would be a stretch, but Alexander believed that Finley could do it. So he set her up. He trotted her down the left side of the arena's fence and then turned her in towards the jumps. When she spotted the jumps, she began to throw her head up in the air and speed up.

"Slow. Slow." He pulled back on the reins but she stuck her nose higher in the air and took off.

"Damn mare." He yanked her head to the side, making her spin. The higher the pony had their head, the less leverage he had on her. Usually the ponies would stop because of the pressure on their nose, but Finley kept going despite the pain.

After many tight circles, Alexander retried. He trotted down the left side and turned in towards the jumps. This time he had a much tighter hold on the reins from the start. He should probably invest in a martingale for her. Finley kicked out and tried to jerk her head out of his tight hold, but there wasn't much she could do. So she went for an alternate method of approach. Finley tucked her head tightly against her chest and began to bolt around the edge of the arena, again trying to unseat her rider.

Damn, those reins hurt against his hands. Finley could be very headstrong at times and this was one of those times. He didn't understand why she wanted to go so fast towards the jumps, and she was determined to do so.

Unfortunately for Alexander, a hackamore had almost no leverage to him when he was riding and her head was so high up in the air. This was why he preferred bits. The same this happened when their head was tucked to their chest. Not many ponies figured this out, but Finley sure did.

After two laps of the arena, Alexander managed to spin her again. It wasn't like she was completely out of control. He could easily stop her, but he didn't want to use extreme force with her yet. He would just move up to a bit.

"Woah. Stand." She stopped long enough for him to hop off. Alexander glared at her for a moment and then lead her over to the fence of the arena. They usually had an extra lead line next to the gate just in case of events like this, and there was. Perfect.

Alexander clipped it onto her halter and then used her reins as a makeshift whip. He wouldn't lunge her for long, she was already sweaty. The only thing he wanted to do was lunge her over those three jumps.

"Trot." He pointed to the left and begrudgingly, Finley trotted off to the left.

After a couple nice circles he pointed her over a jump. Like the other day when he lunged her over jumps, she did not rush them and went at the same speed she had been doing the circles at. Just to make sure, Alexander repeated this several times going both ways. This filly would be the death of him.

Frustrated, he walked her back to the round pen to put her up for the night. Bonding time could be for another day. When he got back from his trip, he would retry with a bit. Her mouth was healed enough.


	10. Chapter 10

On his way home earlier, Alexander had stopped at a tack store to find a new bit for Finley. The one he found, he believed would be a good fit. The actual mouthpiece its self was thin but the edges were a bit bigger so it wouldn't cut into the edges of her mouth. It would provide efficient control. Also while he was there, he picked up a new black leather martingale. When Finley had her head up, not only was it annoying, but it was also bad for her back.

Now Alexander was tacking Finley up to go on a trail ride with Jacob and one of the ponies he was training. This barn was a showing barn for show ponies, but even show ponies could use a good trail ride every once in a while. Circles in an arena get very boring quickly, even with jumps thrown in. He used the saddle he used last time, the new martingale and the new bit. Finley looked more unhappy in the bit, but that was her own fault.

When Alexander tried to mount, she shied off to the side. He worked her a bit around the mounting block until she learned that it was in her best interest to stand still. Finley tried to dart off, but Alexander spun her in a circle before she could get far. As he walked her out of the round pen, she attempted to throw her head up high. The martingale stopped that and she was forced to keep her head at a certain height, or lower.

Snorting unhappily, she walked in the direction Alexander pointed her in. A couple times she tried to shy off to the side quickly, but Alexander was just as fast as she was with correcting her. When she finally accepting that they were going to continue walking in this direction, the ride went much smoother.

"Hey Alexander!" A loud voice called out and Finley jumped, spinning to see who was there.

"Hey Jacob. Ready to go?" Jacob was on a large stallion, much taller than Finley. She felt intimidated and backed up.

"Yah, how about you and your filly?" Alexander nodded and turned Finley to go down the trail. He could feel her tense under his legs. She didn't like new people and this stallion was probably very overwhelming.

Most of the first part of the trail was spent in silence, allowing the ponies to find a nice pace. Finley trailed behind the stallion since her strides were much shorter. This particular part of the trail had a lot of rocks, so the ponies took their time picking spots to walk where it would hurt the least. Alexander noticed that Finley wasn't looking down, instead she was looking ahead at where the stallion placed his feet. Smart.

"Wanna trot them for a bit?" Jacob asked, pulling his stallion to a stop.

The next couple miles of trail was soft, but the branch of the trail they were taking stayed soft for the rest of the trip. It would just loop around back to the barn.

"Sure." Alexander nudged Finley with his heels and clicked.

The pony moved into a brisk trot, head at a nice level for once. Jacob and his stallion stayed next to them, working on matching a slower pace. The stallion was beginning to get headstrong after a bit, pulling at the bit and getting pissy about slowing down.

"Gallop?" Alexander asked him, gathering Finley's reins. He could tell Jacob wanted to run the shit out of his stallion, but out of common courtesy had not asked. When Jacob nodded in agreement, Alexander kicked Finley in the sides and clicked. She kicked out, threw her head down but took off.

"Good girl!" He cried, nudging her with his heels.

Alexander could see Jacob coming up very closely their tail. Finley made no effort to go faster, despite Alexander's cues, until the stallion got a couple strides in front of her. That's when she sped up. Really, she had a major disadvantage. She was a green, weaker female that was more on the pony side. The stallion was seasoned, stronger and had much longer legs. That didn't stop Finley from trying. So, she had a competitive streak.

"Easy, alright. That's good." Alexander pulled her up, slowly.

She was breathing heavily and shaking underneath Alexander. Jacob was grinning wildly when he turned his stallion around.

"Damn, that pony can move. If she doesn't work out in the show ring, you should put a light jockey on her and race her." Jacob said, stopping.

"We'll see." Alexander said, leaving it at that. The two men walked their horses out the rest of the way back to the barn, making sure their breathing returned to normal in sufficient time.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

Thirty minutes later, Alexander was in the wash stall with Finley. She was no longer breathing heavily, but the muscles in her legs were spasming after that wild run. To make sure she wasn't in great pain tomorrow, he iced her legs and then put on a salve to prevent any soreness. Later when he fed her, he would add some pain killers.

Finley was allowing the cross ties to hold her head up when Alexander washed her body and hair. This relaxed, almost asleep pony was totally different from the skittish, wild pony that she had been just days ago. It was very lucky that Alexander managed to buy her before anyone had a chance to ruin her. That was what prevented him from buying so many ponies he had seen. There was always something messed up in their past. But Finley? Nothing. Her only vice was the fact she resorted to her wild ways sometimes.

"Alright. All done." Alexander clipped her lead rope back onto her halter and undid the cross ties. Finley followed him obediently out of the barn, but hesitated when they didn't walk in the direction towards the round pen.

"C'mon. New place now." He pulled on the lead rope until she followed him. Alexander found his stall without any troubles.

The stall that he had reserved was in the largest barn on the stable's property, but the stall was in a corner so she would only have one neighbor to herself. The stall itself was very nice, with swinging double dutch doors. Just the top of the door could be opened so ponies could look out. The front part of the stall was mostly wooden, except the part that had metal barring so you could see in.

The stall came with a chest for any of the pony's tack, and a saddle stand that was mounted to the wall. On the front of the stall, there was a small chalkboard name plate so that the owner could write the pony's name. Next to the door was a tie ring, and then a small shelf. Below the shelf was three little hooks and then the chest. Inside of the stall, there was two tie rings up on the walls so you could put cross ties in, or hanging toys. In the front of the stall, in the corner opposite of the swinging dutch door, was a feeding pan and a water bucket. Then in the back middle of the stall was another swinging double dutch door that went out to a small pasture. The pasture had wooden fencing, and several strips of electrical for any ponies that tried to escape.

Overall, he was very pleased and was sure it would be perfect for Finley. He lead her into the stall, closed the door behind him and then unclipped her lead rope. For now he would keep her halter on. She wander off from him to go check out the back pasture. Alexander watched his pony for a couple minutes and then left her to explore in peace, making sure to lock both top and bottom parts of the doors.

He would have to tell the staff of the barn to be careful around his pony...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : I had a loose plot line for this story, but didn't much like it. Plus, it was getting a little too similar to how I want 'A Broken One' to end. I completely changed A Show Pony's ending, and I love it! I can't wait to write it. 
> 
> As you can see, I have posted many chapters to my stories (including this one) in a short amount of time. I don't write that fast! I've had many of these chapters written up for the past two weeks, so I've tried to spread them out. Hopefully I can get into a routine of posting on a regular schedule, but we will see.


	11. Chapter 11

The next two weeks went on in a similar fashion. Whenever Alexander could, he would exercise and work with Finley. She was getting along great with the pony beside her, to Alexander's relief. He was a little worried that they wouldn't get along. It was a sweet gelding, one who's owner wasn't out very often. The two ponies kept each other company.

Finley's training was progressing quickly and much more efficiently now. Alexander had been avoiding the jumps in the arena, but not for much longer. He had taken measurements of her body last week and sent them to a custom tack company to have her all new tack made, specifically for jumping.

Alexander had spent the past two week working on strictly flat work and refining the skills, and preparing her for jumping. His pony was very sensitive to the light of cues when she wanted to be, and most of the time he didn't use the reins. A light nudge with his heels in a specific part of her side and she would respond.

Finley was building muscle quickly, he could see it when he lunged her. Her hair looked shiny and healthy. Overall she looked so much better.

One of his main tactics to building muscle was trot poles of all sorts. Finley tried to rush them and hop over them at first, but after several corrections from Alexander and repeating the line of poles, she understood. Once she had them perfectly on the ground, Alexander tried them in the saddle. Finley freaked a bit, tripping over them but after some reassuring and retrying, everything smoothed out.

Another thing Alexander did was just long trail rides around the trails of the property, usually trotting. The ones with the hills were the best. If the trails were too muddy to go out on, he would ride her around between arenas and barns. She loved seeing new things and all of the other owners loved her. Finley could be very sweet when she wanted to be, so sweet that Alexander got several offers for her. He denied them all, though the thought of accepting them did cross his mind when she was a particular brat.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

It took only a week for Alexander's custom saddle for Finley to arrive at the barn. Great timing too, today was a beautiful cool day and most of the arenas were free. Two days ago, Alexander started Finley over cavalettis, which were raised trot poles.

After checking to make sure everything he ordered was correct and in the box, he went out to Finley's stable. She was sprawled out in the sun in the small pasture, caked in mud. Probably one of the most annoying things about Finley, that had only started occurring when he moved her to this stall, was her rolling problem. No matter what, she would roll. In shavings, in dirt, in mud. While it was funny to watch, it was a bastard to clean off of her and usually required a bath.

"Finley." He set the saddle and new task on the saddle bottom part of the Dutch doors and stepped into stall, halter in hand. His pony looked up at him, but stayed down on the ground.

"Finley, come on. Get up." He stood at the door, giving her a chance to get up. She didn't, so he walked over to her. Quickly she scrambled to her feet, shaking off. Even after all of this time, Alexander couldn't approach her while she was down.

Haltering the pony, he led her into the stall and hooked the cross ties to her halter. Alexander did his best to try and get most of the mud off Finley's body, and for the most part he succeeded. Once he was pleased with how clean she was, he began to tack her up. He started with the saddle and saddle pad. Then the martingale and bridle. This was Finley's third bit, and it was an elevator type bit with two reins for when she got strong. The first rein, the snaffle rein, was connected to the small ring of the bit, it was very mild and easy on the edges of the mouth. The second rein, the curb rein, was connected to a lower part of the snaffle and would inflict much more pressure on Finley's head and mouth.

It took nearly thirty minutes to properly adjust all of the straps to perfection, but it eventually got done. The first time a pony uses any piece of tack always takes the longest to adjust it.

"Follow." Alexander pulled on the reins and Finley followed out of the stall.

Today was the big day of jumping training. Earlier today Alexander had gone and set up one of the arenas specially for her training session. There were trot poles, bouncers, small random jumps scattered about, and a large circle of jumps in the very middle of the arena. Depending on how Finley reacted would determine which set they worked over.

They entered the arena and Alexander wasted no time focusing Finley's attention on himself. The last thing he needed was her getting distracted and throwing a fit. While her fits were more sparse now, they still flared up.

"Stand." He pulled back on the first rein, and bent her head away from him. Usually he didn't need to bend her head when he mounted, but she was fidgeting more than normal. Probably because of the thirty minutes he spent adjusting her tack.

Alexander nudged her with his heels slightly and she began walking. After a couple laps of the arena, he nudged again and she moved into a trot. Her trot was much more powerful and she was more surefooted after being under saddle for nearly a month. Alexander clicked once and she moved into a slow canter, bending her head inwards on the curve of the circle. Sitting back ever so slightly, Finley slid to a stop.

"Good girl. Trot." He trot her around in a couple circles, then pointed her at a jump. The reins were gathered in his hands, ready. Like clockwork, Finley tensed and tried to run through the bit.

"Ah. Ah. Ah. No." Alexander pulled back on both the snaffle and curb rein. Finley slowed ever so slightly and then they were up over the jump. When Finley landed, she threw her head down and began to crow hop and spin.

"Woah! No Finley!" Alexander sat back quickly and pulled back on the reins. She had not tried to unseat him since he started her.

Alexander turned her and tried again on another jump, collecting her head up again. Finley tried to take off towards the jump, but Alexander pulled back. Just as they got to the jump, Finley slid to a stop and Alexander nearly flew over her shoulder.

Turning her sharply, Alexander tried again, collecting her up but allowing her to canter towards the jump. Again she threw her head, crow hopped but straightened out as they neared the jump. Or so he thought. Last minute, Finley turned so sharply that she slipped and went down with Alexander. They both hit the ground, but Alexander and his head took the brunt of it.

Finley was up and away before Alexander had a chance to regain his thoughts. Thoroughly dazed and shaken, he got up carefully, holding onto the jump pole as stability. It had been a while since he had been put on the ground because of a pony. His pony. Alexander looked around quickly, trying to find Finley but that hurt his head too much so he sat back down. When the throbbing in his head subsided, he opened his eyes and slowly looked up.

"Damn you Finley." He swore, closing his eyes again. Finley was standing a couple feet away, trembling slightly and looking very worried.

Finley continued to stand there, unsure of what to do. Alexander was not moving and had not moved for several minutes. Occasionally he would groan but that was it. She really didn't mean to throw him, but when she spun she lost her footing and couldn't regain balance. Quietly, Finley walked up to Alexander and nudged him. He swatted at her and put his head in his hands again.

Even though Finley was a pony, she was still incredibly smart and knew that Alexander needed help. After many minutes and several attempts to stand, he had not moved from his spot on the ground.

Finley used to escape from her pens all of the time so getting out of this arena was no issue at all. She merely climbed over the fence, using the panels as sort of a ladder. Once she was free, she took off. The stirrups were uncomfortable as they slammed into her side and the reins got tangled every so often, but she ignoring them. Finley was seeking one person in particular, but any handler would work. She really wanted to find "Jacob" the man that fed her when Alexander couldn't.

She cantered through the stable's main piece of property, looking for him. By luck did she spot him coming in from a trail, atop a pony.

It didn't take Jacob long to spot Finley. She was galloping towards him, without Alexander.

"Finley! Woah!" Jacob got off his stallion and tried to grab Finley, but she darted off to the side.

"Come here Finley. Let me help you." He tried to walk slowly towards Finley, but she was having none of it and took off again.

"Finley!" Jacob quickly walked the stallion to the closest barn and put him in a free stall. He had no clue where Alexander was, but he needed to catch this pony. It was very dangerous to have a loose horse, and a liability for the whole barn.

Jacob waited a minute, inside the barn. When Finley darted into the stable where he was standing, he snatched one of the reins before she had time to protest.

"Okay. Woah. Stand." Finley wouldn't stand, instead she kept trying to go back out of the stable.

"No. Stand." Jacob held her firmly under the chin by the reins and dialled Alexander's phone. No answer.

"Okay, come on let's put you up." Jacob began to lead her back to her stall, but of course Finley had to throw a fit. Now she was really fighting in earnest, determined not to go with Jacob.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

It took some time, but eventually Jacob managed to wrangle Finley into her stall. He tried calling Alexander another time on his cell phone, but he didn't answer. Now Jacob worried. Alexander wouldn't just leave his pony loose, fully tacked and then now answer his phone. He glanced over at Finley, who was standing as far away as she could from Jacob.

"C'mere and Stand." He pulled her back out of her stall and put his foot in the left stirrup. Quickly he lifted himself up and into her saddle. Nervously, Finley pranced under him. No one had ever worked with her before other than Alexander.

Jacob nudged the pony with his heels and she took off trotting down the barn aisle. Jacob was much taller and heavier than Alexander but she could manage. When the pair got out of the barn she turned towards the arena and took off at a slow canter. Jacob let her have her head, unsure of where she would take him. As they neared the arena he saw why Finley was loose. Alexander was bent over the jump pole, shakily on his feet.

"Woah pony." Jacob pulled her back until she stopped and got off. He lead Finley into the arena and then let her loose as he jogged over to Alexander.


	12. Chapter 12

Yesterday after Jacob had found Alexander, and Alexander had been taken to the local urgent care, Jacob filled him in on what had happened and Alexander filled Jacob in on what happened. There were some holes in their story, but the two men were pretty sure of what happened yesterday; First, Finley spun and lost her balance causing both pony and rider to fall. Alexander hit his head very hard, almost to the point of a concussion. That kept Alexander from being able to get up. After some time, Finley escaped to find Jacob. When she did, Jacob tried to put her up. Alexander wouldn't answer his phone when Jacob called, which had flown out of his pocket some ways across the arena, so Jacob got worried. He got on Finley and she took him to the arena where Alexander was. Jacob then put Finley in the round pen and took Alexander to the local urgent care. While Alexander was seen by the staff, Jacob dealt with Finley. Alexander was picked up by Jacob at the urgent care an hour later with orders to stay in bed for at least two more days with minimal movement.

That takes us to now, where Alexander is in bed brushing up on some pony training knowledge through videos and books. Jacob is tending to Finley the best he can while Alexander is stuck in bed, but not for too much longer. Alexander plans to go back out and resume training tomorrow. The longer Finley sits, the more information she magically forgets.

It really wasn't Finley's fault that they fell. Well, it was. But she didn't mean to fall. She just spun too quickly and couldn't regain her balance. In all of the down time Alexander has had, he's researched on training methods for jump rushers like his pony.

The first part to training a jump rusher was to asses why they were rushing the jump in the first place. Was it pain? Was it discomfort? Were they just fresh? Was it a result of a past training issue? Once you determined why they were rushing the jump, you could move onto step two which was working on slowing them down. Which sounded simple, but you needed to know why they were rushing the jump beforehand. Applying the wrong tactic could go horribly wrong, which was probably the case for Alexander.

So that was the plan for tomorrow. Find out why Finley was rushing jumps.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

Since Finley didn't rush jumps when lunging, Alexander had a good idea as to where to start. It all seemed very simple now. All he needed was a knock off his high horse to take a step back and look at it from a simpler perspective. Finley would jump beautifully as long as there was no pressure, aka lunging. So wouldn't the same work for in the saddle? Alexander was about to test that theory.

Alexander swung his leg over the saddle and got on. Finley looked very sad, scared, and guilty when he had gotten to the barn this morning, so he spent a lot of the morning assuring his pony that he wasn't mad and that he was alright. Now she was in a better mood but he could still feel that she was nervous and tense. He didn't blame her. The last time they had ridden in this arena, things hadn't gone too great.

"You're fine, Finley. I'm fine." Alexander started her off doing walk, trot, canter transitions and trot poles. This time when he turned her towards a jump, he didn't tighten the reins. Instead he held the buckle end and nudged her along. She immediately got very tense and tried to throw her head up, but the martingale prevented that. Alexander nudged her again to keep her going, she took a couple long trotting steps and then popped over the jump. No crow hopping or spinning, so he took it as a good sign. Now to repeat to see if she will relax some more.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

Many jumps later, Finley was jumping with much less tension. When she realized that Alexander wasn't going to be all up in her face, she slowed down and jumped properly. Little by little, Alexander collected up the reins so he could steer her a bit. After pulling her in a tight circle, he nudged her into a canter. Making sure she had her head, they popped over the jump. Applying pressure with his left heel, she veered to the right towards the next jump. She jumped perfectly.

"Good, Finley! Good." Alexander pulled her to a walk and praised her. For today, this was more than enough. He didn't want to push his luck.

He lead his pony back to the barn, tying her to the ring on her stall out in the aisle of the barn. Then he put all of her tack up where it went in front of her stall. Everything looked so nice and orderly now. The saddle was hung nicely with it's stirrups put up, her bridle was on one hook, and then everything else was in the tack truck.

Since there was still mud caked on her lower legs and some in her mane, Alexander took her to the nearest wash stall to give her a bath. Finley was so well behaved in the wash stall that there was hardly a need for the cross ties, but per the rules of the barn he kept them attached. Getting bathed was probably one of his pony's favorite things to do. After rolling, of course.

Today Alexander took his time washing her. They really needed some bonding time anyway. Alexander started at her legs, working his way up, massaging as well as cleaning. Finley nearly melted underneath his hands. When he made it up to her hair, she just dropped her head and allowed him to scratch and wash her hair. He couldn't take forever though, he needed to wash her off. Finley was already starting to shiver a bit as the water on her skin turned cold.

When Finley was dried off enough, he took her back to her stall and let her loose, closing both the front and back dutch doors so she was stuck in just the stall portion. Alexander slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground.

"Lay down, Finley. Come here." He pat the ground next to him.

Finley watched him uncertainly for a moment and then buckled her legs, laying down. She was in the corner of the stall, not really where Alexander expected her to lay down but it was a step. This was the closest that he had been to her while she was laying down. Alexander slowly scooted himself over towards Finley until he was right beside her. Lightly, he dragged his fingers down her spine.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The next chapter is short because I think it fits better by itself.

"Good girl!" Alexander cries out, patting Finley's neck. They just had a perfect round of jumps. Finley switched leads effortlessly and every stride was correct. They were working perfectly as a team now. Almost every time they went to do a course, it was flawless and hardly any pressure was used because of how well Finley moved off of body language.

Finley looked amazing now. She was all muscle and her mane was shining brightly. Overall her attitude was much better because she felt better and she enjoyed what she did. For Alexander, she put all of her effort into jumping. And it showed. Their first show was coming up soon.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

"Easy Finley. It's alright. It's just like at home!" Alexander had Finley by the cheek pieces of her bridle, staring right into her eyes. Their first show was today. Finley was more than prepared for it, but all of these people and other ponies were really freaking her out.

Alexander turned her head in towards him when he went to mount. She stood quietly, but began prancing before he had time to put his other foot in the stirrup.

"Finley. Stop. It's okay." In the warm up ring, it was a mess. Ponies with irresponsible, rude riders weee everywhere. They would get so close you could practically smell their breath and they cut you off with every chance they got. It was tough, but Alexander managed to pop Finley over some practice fences that were in the middle of the warm up arena. He was just hoping she would focus on him and not the stands when it came time for their turn..

"And now, number 801. Alexander Butler riding Finely."

Alexander trotted Finley into the show ring. Her head was as high as the martingale would allow as she tried to quickly look around at everything. Generally he didn't use a martingale, but today he knew that she would need one.

"Alright, Finley. Show time." Alexander spun Finley in a tight circle counterclockwise and then they were off at a fast canter.

Finley was definitely overwhelmed and very excited when they made it to the first jump. Almost too much so, they narrowly made it over that jump. Alexander sat back slightly and lightly pulled back to signal Finley to slow down. Ignoring him, she kept going at the fast pace. Second jump, again they narrowly made it over because of the lengthened strides. Now Finley slowed down and listened.

Lightly, Alexander pushed his heel into the left side of Finley's side. She smoothly turned to the right and they went over the third jump with ease, perfectly this time. Now she was listening fully. Not focused on anything but Alexander. She had her couple minutes of fun, and now it was time to listen.

"Switch." Alexander pushed his left hip forward slightly and Finley switched from a right lead canter to a left lead canter, with one stride before the jump. Once again; perfect. When Alexander had been watching the previous riders, he noticed that they didn't switch leads in time and the pony either stumbled over the jump or knocked it.

The rider clicked once, squeezing a bit with his heels. This part they could go fast on. The jumps were just four in a row, bouncers. If you went fast enough you could get just one stride in between and seriously cut down on time. This was show jumping, so time did matter.

Finley tucked her head lower and really stretched out over these four jumps. Alexander and her had done these many times at home, and she knew exactly what to do. Though, once she was done, she was a little caught off guard when he asked for a sudden lead change and abrupt turn.

"Switch!" Alexander threw his right hip forward and Finley automatically switched. It was if it was programmed into her now. Thank goodness; because she seemed to be off in la la land at the time.

The pair made it over the last jump and the buzzer went off. The crowd was loud and clapping, which spooked Finley. She was very tense and high stepping as they made their way out of the arena.

"Good girl Finley! I'm so proud of you." Alexander showered his pony in praise as they went back to the trailer. This was everything he wanted and more.

After several small local shows, Alexander and Finley were traveling three hours away to a lower level championship. The jumps were taller, though no more than two and a half feet, and more extreme. You needed to be able to turn very quickly and keep a fast pace. The arena was small but densely packed with jumps. It was hard on ponies and definitely not a beginners course.

Alexander could barely contain his excitement as he jumped out of his truck to unload Finely. All of the shows that he had entered with Finley, they had won first or a close second place. He wasn't complaining at all, because a couple short months ago his pony was wild. Now Finley was very docile and calm. For Alexander at least. Rarely did they have any issues. Now, the first jump or two at a show she may ignore him but once she had her fun she would calm down and become an angel. Alexander always knew it was somewhere hidden, she just needed to bring it out.

"Finley, hey pony." He looked in to check on her before he opened the door. She was chilling, leaning against the divider. It was definitely a process getting her used to the trailer.. He was sure his old trailer had dents from her kicking tantrums.

The trailer door swung open and Alexander stepped in, untying Finley. She followed him off, and around to the side of the trailer with the tack room. He tied her to the tie ring right outside and began to brush her. When she was fully cleaned and her mane was braided, Alexander stepped back to look at her. She was perfect in his eyes. The saddle and of the tack was put on in hardly any time.

Using the tire of the trailer as a mounting block, Alexander got on Finley and began to walk to the warm up arena. They had about twenty minutes before their class started and he needed to get her warmed up. The riders here were much nicer about warming up. Then again, these riders were invited here. You couldn't just waltz into this show ring. Thank goodness for that, because Alexander was getting tired of the hokey people.

This arena has several warm up jumps in the middle of the arena, so Alexander takes Finley over one. She hesitates over the jump and when they land, it's obvious that she is limping heavily. Alexander pulls her up to a stop and then has her walk some. The limping is not visible from where he is now. He trots and canters her for a couple circles and then tries another jump. This time she flat out refuses.

"Finley! What's going on?" These jumps are small, hardly two feet high. They didn't even jump this small at home.

Alexander tried jumping her again, from the other side. Nudging her along the whole way. She jumps it, but limos badly for several steps after the jump. Now Alexander is both worried and puzzled. He gets off and runs his hands down her legs. They don't seem any different but it's obvious she is having some sort of issue.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

An hour later, Alexander is sitting with his head in his hands in the vets office. He had gone to the show vet for advice, but they had sent him to a nearby vet. Currently his pony was heavily sedated as they did many tests on her legs.

"Alexander Butler?" Alexander looked up.

"That would be me."

"Your pony is done with the x-rays and tests, would you like to see her?" Alexander nodded and followed the young man back to the stables portion of the vet's office.

"Hi. You must be Finley's owner. I'm Connor Harrington, the main vet here." Alexander shook his hands and went over to where Finley was. She was laying on the ground, on her side. Completely out of it.

"So we ran several tests and took a couple x-rays. It doesn't look good. She has several issues with her knees, and her hips. Jumping is, and has been for who knows how long, causing her immense pain. Luckily you caught on before it was too bad, but it looks like today it flared up." The vet paused for a minute to let Alexander take it all in.

"I'm going to prescribe some anti inflammatory pills and pain killers if she starts looking like she's in pain, but she cannot jump again. She needs to be kept up in a stall for at least a month, to allow her knees and hips some resting time. She's still very young, so she should be okay but it's essential that her joints get some rest. Though she is young and she can heal, she won't ever be able to be put into heavy work. Her body just can't handle it."

Alexander squatted next to Finley, stroking her hair as the vet rambled on.

"I'll send home a note with you telling you what to do and her limits."

"Thank you." Alexander said, standing up to shake hands with the vet.

The vet nodded and left the pony and owner.


	14. Chapter 14

After the devastating news that Finley wouldn’t be able to jump, Alexander fell into depression. All of his big dreams for her just fell through with the Doctor’s news. And just as they had begun to get good! Alexander was mad. Mad at himself for not finding out sooner, and mad that his plans were ruined. Now all he could do with Finley was brush her, and maybe walk her around. But what fun is that?

Every day was simple for Alexander after the news. He followed a routine to a T. There was nothing much for him to do anymore other than train other’s horses and feed. When Alexander got to the barn, he would go to Finley’s stall and say hi. He would feed her breakfast, and while she ate he would brush her. He made sure to clean every inch of her as that was all he could do now. It wasn’t anything special. He repeated this pattern for a month. Finley had to be on strict stall rest for a minimum of a month to allow her joints to start to mend. In addition, she had to have several types of medications. For the first week and a half she was on a pain killer. Which was hell for the both of them. The painkiller came in a tube of thick paste that tasted terrible to Finley. She dreaded the mornings because of it.

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

“Finley! Stop it, you know how this goes every single morning.” Alexander had the large syringe filled with the pain killing medications. He knew she hated this, but it was needed. Paisley continued to dart around the stall, snorting. Surprisngly, this wasn’t the worst part of the morning.

“Come on, honey. It isn’t that bad.” Finley stopped for a minute and snorted as if Alexander was crazy. He took this moment of surprise to grab her. This was the worst part of the morning. Catching her was usually fine. Took a while, but that’s it. Giving her medicine? Different story. Finley squealed and began flailing around, trying to dislodge his hold on her halter.

“Finley, shhh. It’s okay. Only a couple more days of this.” Finley tried to sink her teeth into him, but it wasn’t working too well for her. Especially when Alexander took the chance of her open mouth to shoot the nasty medication in. Alexander clapped a hand over her mouth to keep her from spitting it out. After five minutes of this, she finally swallowed it grimly.

“Good girl.” Alexander clipped a lead rope on and tied her up. The rest of their morning routine was easy. He mixed the rest of her medications and vitamins into her feed. She was a slightly picky eater, but over the months of owning her, Alexander found out what she liked most. Alexander poured her feed into her feed pan in the stall. Finley immediately dug in, not bothering to wait. Alexander brushed her while she ate. When she was done, he released her. That was all he did with her, every day.

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The next month followed in similar fashion. Alexander never felt so disconnected from Finley, even when she was wild. She made a few sweet advancements towards him, trying to emit some sort of response from him, but stopped when it didn’t work. All she wanted was some sort of recognition or pats, but Alexander wasn’t giving it. When he brushed her, she felt nothing – no love. It was just as if he was brushing an inanimate object.

Finley had always been very emotionally sensitive. She had always been very in tune with emotions, so when Alexander came to the barn depressed and angry, it rubbed off on her. She became more irritable and depressed as well. At first the only bright part of her day was Alexander, but not anymore with his recent attitudes.

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“Finley!” Alexander’s sharp voice broke Finley out of her thoughts. She swung her head around to see what he was wanting. “Don’t ignore me, mare.”

Finley stuck her nose up and turned away.

“Finley!” Alexander’s voice was sharper this time. “What has gotten into you?” Finley kept ignoring him and focused on chewing on the walls of the stalls, one of Alexander’s biggest pet peeves. And she did it just to annoy him.

“Finley! No!” Alexander snapped her lead back, getting visibly angrier by the minute. Finley finally looked at him, with a ‘what?’ look on her face, as if she hadn’t done anything. Alexander huffed angrily and took Finley’s halter off.

“Don’t play these games with me. I’m not in the mood.” Finley snapped at him and pranced away, leaving Alexander fuming behind her. As time went on, Alexander just got more depressed, angry, and frustrated with Finley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make my word go round, and give me motivation to write. Kudos do as well.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is over 2,000 words. That's unusual for me as I usually write 1,000 or less.

Another month passes like the previous. Finley is allowed out of her stall for longer periods of time, and ends up spending a majority of the day in the pastures. Alexander uses this an more of an excuse to not visit her. 

Alexander’s past month had been increasingly busy. Since he didn’t need to dedicate any time to Finley, he picked up more clients. Everyday other than Sunday, he was riding seven or more ponies. His reputation skyrocketed when he started showing these ponies in regionals and winning. As his reputation grew, his workload grew. Most days he wouldn’t even go to Finley’s stall as he’d be so busy. 

All of the pasture time was both a blessing and a curse. The blessing quickly turned into a curse though.  Finley was getting exposed to other ponies and integrated into a herd. That was great because before this, Finley hadn’t been around many ponies. 

The first bit of integration was rough. To say the least. Finley hadn’t taken too kindly to having to submit to anyone; so she grew to 2nd in the command in the herd. Her bossy little self loved pushing more submissive ponies around. Of course, until it was her being pushed around. 

Angel was the head of the herd. The boss. The dominant mare. Angel was an ironic name for her, in Finley’s eyes. When Finley had first come into the herd she had tried to stand up to Angel. It resulted in her being wrestled to the ground and pinned down until she gave in. Finley avoided her as much as possible ever since. 

Finley generally took her anger out on the poor other ponies. It was always worse right after Alexander visited because Finely was always so angry at him, or Alexander was angry at her. It got to the point that Angel had to step in. Again. Angel didn’t appreciate that Finley was knocking on her herd, and tore Finley a new one. Alexander intervened and moved Finley to another pasture after she came in with scratches, bruises, and bite marks all over her. 

“What’d you get yourself into this time, pony?” Alexander was shocked when he found her in her stall later that day. 

“Did you go up against Angel again and get your tail beat?” Finley ignored him, pride hurt. 

Even though she probably deserved it, Alexander sent a text to the barn’s mass text (it went to all of the stable hands) and told for Finley to be put out in a private pasture. He also made a note on the chalkboard in the feed room. He knew it would be a bad idea to try and put her with a herd with her anger and obedience issues, but he was hoping the herd would be a bit more forgiving.

Finley was already more distant from Alexander before she was put out in the pasture. Now, in the private pasture, she was like a completely different horse. She was depressed that she spent all day alone and enjoyed the attention from the stable hands more than she enjoyed Alexander. 

Alexander finally made the hard choice of listing Finley for sale. He had been contemplating it for the past two months, but with Finley growing more distant and his workload increasing, he saw it as a good idea. He spent a long time perfecting her sale ad and picking his favourite pictures. He added several nice groundwork photos, some flat work, one jumping (with the disclaimer that she could NOT jump), and several of her just out in the round pen or pasture. 

It broke his heart to list Finley for sale, but she needed a job. She was depressed that she couldn’t do anything. Finley would be a perfect lesson pony, companion, or someone’s private little easy ride. 

He laid his head in his hands and cried after he posted her sale ad to several sale sites. 

 

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

Name: Finley

Age: 18-19 years

Breed: Mustang

 

Discipline: English

Main Trainer: Alexander Butler

Best Suited For: Companion Horse/Very Light Riding/Lesson Pony due to Medical Issues

Achievements: 1st/2nd in several local shows for show jumping. 

 

Stable Vices: N/A; gets bored easily.

Riding Vices: N/A

Previous Owner: N/A; previously wild.

 

Past Training: All of Finley’s training has been done by me. I bought her wild and trained her to where she is now. 

 

Medical Problems: Damaged Hips/Knees/Ankles. Diagnosed by vet. No medications needed. Magnesium supplement helps, but isn’t needed. Doctors ordered NO MORE jumping and no hard work. 

Hoof Problems: N/A

Other Problems: N/A

 

About: Finley is a young mustang mare. I got her when she was completely wild and have worked with her intensely to get her where she is now. She used to be a jumper, but with medical problems in her joints she has doctors order for no hard work. Finley would be a perfect lesson pony. She’s very responsive and would be great for teaching a new or inexperienced rider the ropes. Lighter riders will also be better for her joints. She would also be good for low level dressage. It kills me to sell her, but this pony needs a constant job. Finley is good with pasture turnout or stalls. Contact me for more information. 

 

Price: N/A - Best Offer

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After posting the ad it wasn’t long until Alexander had people contacting him. A pony directly from a trainer with an amazing reputation? Everyone was jumping to see her.

Alexander easily weeded through several of the people wanting more information. He wanted her to go to a good home that would treat her well. 

Several names stuck out to him. Mary Swan, Anne Smith, Penelope Thompson, Blake Compton, and Tyler Fredrick. All of these people Alexander knew and he knew of their training methods. He got appointments for them to come and try out Finley. Suddenly, selling her didn’t seem like such a bad idea if she could go to one of these homes. Almost all of these people had children, or were lightweight themselves. 

Mary Swan and Blake Compton were able to come out that day, so Alexander booked them then. Anne Smith was coming out the next day, and then Penelope and Tyler the next day. Alexander hopefully wanted to decide within a week. He knew more people would contact him the longer his ad stayed up, so the higher chance of finding a perfect home. 

Later that day, Alexander met Ms. Swan. She was dressed impeccably well and brought her own tack. Alexander was already impressed. 

“Hello, you must be Ms. Swan. I’m Alexander.” They shook hands. 

“Nice to meet you, Alexander.”

“Let’s go see Finley? I left her in her stall so you can tack her up if you wish.” Ms. Swan nodded and followed Alexander to the barn.

Finley stood, waiting and wondering. She had already eaten breakfast, but Alexander hadn’t let her back out to the pasture. She stiffened up when she saw Alexander coming with some strange woman.

“Hello, Finley.” The woman held her hand out for Finley to sniff and then walked into her stall, carrying the tack in as well. 

A few short minutes later, Ms. Swan was leading Finley out to the arena. 

“She’s a bit smaller than I thought. Most 3ft jumpers are a lot bigger.” 

“She had springs in her feet and loved jumping. It was our passion, which was why she excelled at it.” Alexander explained, watching Ms. Swan carefully. He wanted to be very critical when choosing a new owner. 

“Swing on her. I will warn you, she hasn’t been ridden in over two months.” Ms. Swan nodded and swung over. Finley pranced slightly, looking at Alexander for guidance. He ignored her. 

Ms. Swan spent the next twenty minutes riding Finley. She was a little rusty in her moves, but got it all back under control easily. The fun came for cantering. Finley dug her head down and shook around, trying to dislodge Ms. Swan’s hold on the reins. Luckily for Finley, she had been behaving the whole time, so Ms. Swan was caught off guard. Finley took off hopping and cantering until Ms. Sean could grab her reins back and get off. 

“Thank you Alexander, I believe that will be all.” Ms. Swan grabbed her tack off of Finley and stalked away. 

Alexander watched her leave and then turned back to Finley who looked pleased with herself. 

“Finley, you can’t do that to people. You know if I was riding you I would have beat the snot out of you for that trick.” Finley snorted.

“Come on. You have another person to impress.” Alexander led her back to the barn for just thirty minutes. The next potential buyer, Blake, was coming with his teenage son shortly after Ms. Swan’s departure. 

“Hello, Alexander. This is Sean.” Blake strode into the barn to Finley’s stall. Alexander and Blake were trainer friends who regularly competed against eachother. It never affected their friendship. 

“Hello.” Alexander shook both of their hands and took them over to where Finley was. While he waited, he tacked her up in her own saddle for Blake’s son. 

“So this is Finley. Pretty little girl, I remember seeing you on her a while back. Sad that you can’t jump her.” Alexander nodded in agreement. 

“Is it alright if Sean takes her right out?” 

“Yes. She’s already been ridden today. Be prepared for a little bit of snottiness, as she hasn’t been in work for over two months. The previous rider didn’t pay any attention.” 

Sean nodded and took Finley out. She followed him, interested. He was younger than anyone she’d ever seen. Maybe even younger than her. 

“Woah.” Sean held her head tight as he got on. Finley pawed at the ground. She wanted to test this kid. 

Sean clicked and dug his heels into her sides. Finley walked forward, stretching her head out as far as it would go. This kid had a tight hold on her head. 

“Don’t loosen up on her. You can see that look in her eyes.” Blake suggested, and Sean took it. He tightened up more. Finley was becoming more agitated by the moment. This was not fun. 

It wasn’t long before Sean was pushing her into a trot and canter, never giving up her head. It was slightly easier to canter with her head to her chest. The first big surprise for Finley came when she refused to bend inward. Sean immediately sat down in the saddle, snapped the rein tightly to the left, and laid a whip hard on her ass cheek. Finley squealed and continued to circle in a tight circle as Sean kept whipping her butt. The next time he asked her to bend inward, Finley reluctantly did so. 

“Good girl.” Sean dismounted and gave the reins back to Alexander. 

“I like her.” Blake said, and Sean agreed. “I do too.” 

“How much are you wanting?” Blake asked, looking at Alexander. 

“I’m not sure. I’m taking offers on her for now, to get a feel as to how much she’s worth.” 

“Let us talk about it?” Blake asked, and Alexander nodded. He took Finley from the arena, into the barn by himself to give the dad and son some privacy. 

About ten minutes later, Alexander was finishing untacking Finley and cleaning her off when Blake and Sean walked to the stall.

“We’d like to offer 190,000.” 

“Let me think about it?” Alexander gulped. The realisation of everything was settling in on him. Finley looked a bit clueless, which only broke his heart more.

Blake and Sean nodded, leaving the barn. 

Many more people came out and trial rode Finley. Some she was good for, others not so much. The offers he got ranged from 120,000 to 200,000. He still didn’t want to let her go.

About two weeks after Alexander placed the ads for sale, an older lady by the name of Margaret called him. She told him a bit about herself, her barn, and her granddaughter who she wanted to buy Finley for. Alexander immediately liked her and gladly planned a date for Margaret and her granddaughter to come out on. 

 

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

 

Alexander made Finley look as prim and proper as possible for Margaret and her daughter. He cleaned her like he did for shows. Everyone else he had turned down. Out of all of the people who had called and seen Finley, this was the one that he thought he might not turn down. He finished braiding her mane and checking her tack when they arrived. 

“Hello. I’m Alexander.” He introduced himself, sticking his free hand out to the older woman. 

 "Hello. I’m Margaret, and this is Josie. She’s a beginner, but learning quickly. I want her to have her own, trained, lesson pony.” Alexander nodded.

“Finley is great, she just cannot jump. Would you like to test ride her?”

“Yes. She would.” Margaret answered for Josie. 

“Let’s go.” Alexander lead Finley down to the arena. He helped Josie into the saddle and lead them around. Finley was a little weirded out by the light weight, but was mostly unbothered. When Alexander let Josie and Finley loose by themselves, Finley was perfect. 

“That’ll be all, thank you. How much are you wanting?” Margaret was already pulling out a check book.

“I’m just taking offers for now to see what the market is right now. I’ve had offers from 100,000 to 200,000.” Alexander turned back around and helped Josie down. 

“Okay. Here is a check for 350,000. Hopefully that covers the transport to our barn? I’ll message you the address.” Margaret held the check out to him. 

Alexander was dumbfounded. He ran through his head... refusing the check. But what was the point of listing her for sale if he didn’t actually want to sell her? His hesitation made Margaret snap the check back. 

“Are you still selling her?”

“Yes, sorry ma’am.” He stepped forward and took the check. “I can transport her whenever in the next week, just let me know whatever is best for you. She probably doesn’t require quarantine because she stays by herself in the pastures and stalls.”  

“That would be perfect. Does tomorrow work?”

“Yes, maam.” Alexander answered.

“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Josie and her grandmother left, leaving an upset Alexander and confused Finley behind them. 

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another 2,000 word chapter. Apparently I was in a writing mood.

The next morning, Alexander got up as normal and went to the barn. Except this would be the last morning he’d be doing this with Finley. This was the last morning he’d go wake her up, the last morning to brush her, the last morning to deal with her sass. He was going to miss this. But he knew it was for the better. 

“Hey honey.” Alexander walked into her stall, and waited for her to stand up. There was so much he wanted to tell her new owners. The way she needed a second to stand up. How she loved her back scratched. The way she was so eager to please when she loved what she was doing. How she loved jolly ranchers... on occasion. Too many and she got turned off of them. 

Alexander ran his hands down Finley’s sides. She looked good. Not as good as she was when she was in constant work, but she was still fit. She’d look good as a slightly chubby Lesson pony. 

“Let’s go girly.” Alexander got a cheap nylon halter and put it on her. He wanted to save her nice leather halter for himself, as a sort of remembrance. He also cut a long lock of her mane from the underside, where it wouldn’t be missed. 

Alexander lead her out to the trailer with ease. Over the course of many shows, Finley grew used to the trailer and went in without a fight. He didn’t bother tying her. He knew she wouldn’t do anything. 

The drive to the farm wasn’t bad. Their barn was about thirty minutes from where Alexander’s barn was located. When they got there, Margaret and her granddaughter, Josie, were standing in front of the barn. 

“Got her a stall all ready?” Alexander asked as he exited the car. 

“Yes!” Josie answered before her grandmother had a chance to. 

“Great. Want to take her into the barn?” Josie nodded and followed Alexander to the trailer. Alexander got Finley out and let her jump off the trailer with ease. 

“Here you go.” Alexander handed the lead rope over to Josie. Now Finley was officially gone. 

“Take care of her.” Margaret nodded and turned to follow Josie and Finley into the barn.  

Alexander latched all of the trailer doors, looked at the barn once more, and then got in his truck and left. 

 

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

 

Finley is scared and confused with her new barn. Her new stall is very nice, but it’s new. And Alexander isn’t here. There’s some little girl leading her all over, and an older lady that keeps making them stop and pose for pictures. Finley doesn’t like it. She only gets a couple hours of rest before the little brat and old woman come back. 

“Hi Butterscotch.” Who’s that? Finley ignores them. It’s obvious they don’t want her, but the little girl comes into her stall. 

“Come on Butterscotch.” Finley snorts. That’s not her name. The brat yanks on her face when she doesn’t comply. Finley flashes her a warning look, but walks forward. Within moments the girl is throwing saddle pads and a tiny saddle onto her back. It feels funny and different. Finley doesn’t like it. 

“Butterscotch! Follow.” Josie is quite demanding and expected her own way, every time. She grew tired of the boring old Lesson horses and wanted her own pony to take lessons on. She picked Butterscotch, formally called Finley, because she was so pretty. “Butterscotch” was sometimes not well behaved, but her grandmother promised to pay special trainers to fix this. 

“Hurry, Josie. Your first lesson starts in ten minutes.” Josie snapped the Bridle onto Finley’s head quickly and then started leading her new pony to the large covered arena. 

“Josie! So good to see you. Is this your new pony?” Josie’s trainer, Pete, stood at the gate of the arena, holding it open for the pair to walk through. 

“Yes sir. This is Butterscotch. Isn’t she pretty?” 

“Very much so! Grab a lunge whip and we will begin lunging.” In a few short minutes, Finley was doing circles around them. Pete was instructing Josie as to what to do, and occasionally having to correct Finley. 

There were a couple crow hops, but that was it. Finley wanted to do so much more but she couldn’t. Her plan to get back to Alexander was simple. Act good until they weren’t expecting it. It worked with almost everyone, which meant it was fool proof in her eyes. 

After ten minutes of lunging, Pete helped Josie onto Finley. 

“Eyes up, shoulders back, heels down. Move with her. Add a bit of heel to make her extend her strides more.” Josie nudged lightly, and Finley lengthened her strides.

“When you feel alright, move her into a trot. Loosen up on her head some, we don’t need connection yet.” Pete stood in the middle of the arena, watching them. Something about Finley felt off to him. 

“Change direction.”

Finley’s was beginning to get tired of this. But she needed just one excuse. That’s it. One excuse. As soon as this kid asked her to canter, she was off like a bat out of hell. Finally her chance came. 

“Let’s see how much she knows. Do a quick upward transition into a canter.” Josie took this slightly differently. She laid her heels into Finley, and neglected to hold on/gather reins. Finley stuck her head out, shook it around, and took off. 

Josie screamed and her grandmother yelled. 

“Stop that horse!” 

“Sit down!” Pete knew there wasn’t much he could do. 

“Help!!” 

“Pull back! If she won’t stop, circle her!” 

Finley kept going as fast as her legs could carry her. Luckily there weren’t many things in her way, so she didn’t have to dodge much. The kid on her back kept slamming down onto the saddle, which almost made her want to throw the kid. But not yet. After two laps around the arena, Finley skidded to a stop. Josie swung off, crying hysterically. 

Josie’s grandmother came rushing over to her and hugged her. Pete grabbed Finley and checked her over. 

“I don’t know what spooked her. Are you alright Josie?” Josie sniffed, but she was alright. 

“Let’s call it a day here and pick up tomorrow. Butterscotch has probably had a hard day with the new barn. Sound good?” Josie nodded and left Pete to deal with Finley. Josie’s grandmother scowled the whole time. 

 

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

 

The next day Josie has another lesson with Pete and Butterscotch. Finley felt no regret. She had bigger plans for today. But, she had to be good first. Otherwise she couldn’t catch the girl off guard. 

“Keep her on a tight rein.” Pete yelled out, holding onto the lead rope tightly. He decided to keep Butterscotch on a lunge line until he could trust her. 

“Heels down, eyes up, and look where you are going.” Josie clicked to Finley, keeping her going. 

“Good job. I think we will call that a day.” 

Finley was disappointed she’d have to wait until the next lesson, but with the lunge line on she couldn’t do anything. One more day away from Alexander. 

The next couple lessons followed the same way. It wasn’t until nearly a week later that Pete let Finley and Josie off the lead line. 

“Okay, going to ask for a slow trot and then easy transition into canter. You can do it.” Finley did exactly as Josie asked of her without any problems. Just a bit longer... 

“Don’t loosen your grip. If she gets too fast, yank back. Ask her to keep cantering.” Josie tried to keep a tight grip, but she was so small that it didn’t really matter. 

About five circles later, Finley got ready to take off. She would have to take off far enough away that the trainer couldn’t grab her. 

“Ask for a canter.” Perfect. Like the previous time, Finley shot off when Josie asked for a canter. Josie tried with all of her might to pull back, but Finley ignored her. 

“Woah woah woah!” Everyone was yelling, but it only made Finley go faster. She ran straight at the wall in front of her, making no effort to slow down. Josie was desperately trying turn her, but nothing was working. 

“Turn her!” 

“Woah!” Josie yelled, just a few feet in front of the wall. Finley skidded to a stop immediately, which threw Josie off balance. Using this, Finley began to spin and then bolt off. It wasn’t long until the kid was almost halfway off. One large crowhop and another spin later, Josie was dumped on the ground. 

Josie’s grandmother ran in and grabbed her granddaughter. Josie was crying again, and saying that her arm hurt. 

“Pete! I want this horse sent to training and brought back until you are completely sure she is fully safe.”

Pete nodded and grabbed Finley’s reins. 

 

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

 

The next couple weeks were hell for Finley. Pete, under Margaret’s instructions, had sent Finley to a nearby trainer. This trainer ran and ran and ran Finley until she felt like she couldn’t breath. Then he’d get on her and run her some more. In addition to that; he stuck so much stuff oh her. There was something on the entirety of her nose, keeping her head down. Then there were blinkers to keep her from looking around. There were two reins going from her bit to her saddle to keep her head straight forward. Then on top of all of this, the trainer kept the  tightest and most unforgiving hold on her head. Finley hated it and took every chance she got to try and unseat him. She eventually found out that every time she misbehaved, five minutes of running was tacked onto whatever she had already done. 

This didn’t deter Finley from trying to act out. She refused to give into this man. He gave up on her after two weeks and sent her bad, labelling her as untrainable. 

The next trainer to take Finley had a different approach. He had her tied down so tight she could barely move, but still expected her to perform perfectly. Finley didn’t understand. The pieces of tack made specially to prevent her from running, he wanted her to run in. 

Every time she misbehaved, he would swing off and take the crop and whip her as hard as he could across her rear, legs, back, and front. Wherever he could hit he would. It didn’t take but a couple times until Finley wouldn’t let him get anywhere near her, especially when she knew he was trying to get on. 

Her stubbornness and apparent dullness to pain only made things worse. The trainer stuck her in a round pen with only water and two slices a bread a day. If she was bad she got a slice of bread taken away. Over the course of two more weeks this severely diminished Finley’s will to fight. She was always hungry and her stomach hurt so badly. The desire to fight back was burnt out of her. 

After three weeks with the second trainer, he sent her back labelled as dangerous. She looked like a completely different horse when she was returned to Margaret and Josie’s barn. The healthy, wide eyed, and spirited filly they sent off came back sickly and dull. 

“She won’t put up a fuss anymore. Keep her on minimal feed. I’ve put her on two pieces of bread a day.” With that, the trainer left Finley at their barn. 

 

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

 

Josie was horrified with the condition of her pony, but Margaret assured her that it was needed for Finley’s training. Their next lesson was that night, but Josie didn’t want to ride her. 

“Grandmother, I don’t want to ride her. What if she runs off again?”

“She won’t.” 

Josie got on, but started crying when Finley cowered away from Pete and took one too many fast steps forward. 

“She’s broken, I don’t want her anymore.” Josie was throwing a class A temper tantrum at this time. Margaret rolled her eyes. 

“All of that money wasted. Whatever. List the nag up for sale.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry is these chapters seem rushed. I just want to finish this story, and I have so many ideas for it! It’s so hard to slow down and detail everything, lol!


	17. Chapter 17

While Finley was being “re trained”, Alexander was trying to find a replacement. He went to some horse auctions to see if there where any wild ponies he wanted to retained, but none caught his eye. He did a trial some horses, some green, some trained, but none had that connection like he had with Finley.

 

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

 

“This is Abigail. She’s a twenty year old mare. Slightly green, but showing great promise. She’s a great middle. Not too fast and not too lazy. She’s had about thirty rides.”

Alexander tried her out. Brought her home and put her in Finley’s old stall, but it all looked wrong. He told himself he was stupid and needed to get over himself. So he left it. When he tried to ride her, Abigail was too unsure of herself. She needed constant guidance. Alexander didn’t feel like having to hold her hand through everything. He sent her back the next day. 

The next horse Alexander tried was a older gelding named Hank. He’s twenty seven, but huge. All muscle. He was advertised as a show jumper, but Alexander didn’t like the style of teaming he had. So that was a fail.

The third horse Alexander tried, he almost thought would fit. Anne was an elegant mare that was fancy broke. She required no tune ups and had a great show record. Unfortunately, Anne was the oldest of all the horses he tried at thirty, which eventually was he final decision maker. The longer he thought about it, the more he wanted a younger more spirited horse. So he passed on her.

The fourth pony was Mac. Alexander fell in love with his curly hair and slight attitude, and took Mac home with him. It wasn’t until a week later that Alexander realised Mac was slightly limping. A quick run to the vet’s office and it was revealed that Mac had a knee issue that started to flare up when he was in heavy, constant work. Alexander sent him home and cried that night. Finding a new pony seemed impossible.

The last pony was a smaller, petite little mare. Alexander was tired of trialing horses but she reminded Alexander most of Finley. Her name was Lydia. She felt perfect. She was still slightly green, but knew how to jump and was nice and supple. Her only issue was she was a snot on the ground. Easy fix for Alexander though. Most ponies calmed down on the ground once they trusted you. Turns out Alexander waited too long on her and she was sold without warning. That’s when Alexander gave up on finding a replacement.

 

**0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0**

 

It had been over two months since Alexander sold Finley and he was absolutely surprised when he saw a sale ad for her up on the classifieds. Outraged at the fact that Margaret didn’t contact her before posting her publicity, Alexander left immediately.

Thirty minutes later Alexander was pulling up to the barn and dialling Margaret.

“Alexander?”

“Margaret. I’m here to pick up Finley.”

“I’m sorry, but she isn’t for sale.”

“I saw the classifieds, Margaret. I already have the trailer in front of the barn. I can get her myself.”

“There’s no need. You won’t want her. She threw my kid so many times, I don’t know what was going through your mind when you sold her as a kids horse. And to think if she had been bought by a lesson barn!”

“Ma’am, Finley was perfectly fine when I sold her. Josie even rode her at my place.”

“I already have a buyer.”

“What’s he giving you?”

“That’s private.”

“I’ll give you what you paid.”

The other side was silent for a moment and then there was some whispering.

“375,000. And we never hear from you again.”

“Deal. The check will be in her stall.”

With that, Alexander walked briskly into the barn to find Finley. It wasn’t hard as most of the ponies were out in the pasture. He was shocked when he finally came across her.

“Oh Finley.” Alexander opened the stall door and stepped in. She was shackled to the wall with her head tight against her neck. Her ankles were changed together. Her mane was matted and dirty as if it hadn’t been even brushed since Alexander sold her. The worst part was the condition her body. She was sickly looking with her ribs and hips sticking out. There were scars and newer looking open wounds littered over her body. She didn’t even realise Alexander had come into the stall.

“What’d they do to you?” Alexander quickly untied Finley. This wasn’t how he imagined she looked.

“Come on. Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's kinda short, but it makes up for the past two chapters. Next chapter is the last chapter!


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